The Elf and The Black Dragon Season One
by SenseOfHumor
Summary: The Indoraptor, still very much alive, is thrust into a world without machines and technology. But he needn't worry, there's more than enough magic and non-humans to confuse him for weeks on end. (Slow build friendship)
1. Chapter One: Bloodthirsty

It was a dark and stormy night.

He couldn't hear any patter or pitter from any water formations falling from the heavens, but he could very clearly feel the infinite assault of the rain on his scales. Given how long he'd been here, it was easy for him to run through various ways of describing the rain or what it made the night look like outside. He could recall several days that began with a dark and stormy night and went on forever or so just to describe the storm itself.

It was raining fairly hard to compensate for the heat of the summer, so hard that it was difficult to see more than a few feet out past the dark shadows and describe anything in perfect detail. He could just imagine seeing tiny rivers and rivulets slithering down the crystal exterior of the mansion to drip from the upper panes of the window. When the constant waterfall fell to the lower panes it created the softest sound above the white noise of the raindrops that fell away from the castle. A never-ending wet splatter against a crystalline base, that sounded like someone pouring water onto a floor made of metal.

The raindrops alone were like static to his restless ears by now, though they would twitch occasionally if thunder boomed just close enough to the mansion. The floor vibrated from the noise and as a result of the air clapping back together. The lightning brightened the room, but it never added color with it's presence. Such was a side effect the rain's soothing down fall-it turned the horribly colorful world around him into a realm of grey and white. It was almost painful to look at, let alone experience.

Pain was not a foreign thing to him. Pain was his entire life-every second of it. The moment he hatched had been a blinding mess of pain and foreign voices ranting about 'success' and 'the future'. That was nothing compared to the hunger pains when those strange scaleless bipeds neglected to feed him for weeks on end, just to study his behavior towards a live goat. The crackles of their poking sticks hurt the most and often sent him into a fit of foamy snarling with a few well placed stabs here and there. He could fully describe the pain of just living in an empty cage, bones cramped and misshapen from having to position himself in such tiny quarters. Many mornings would consist of him trying to crack stress out of his neck without accidentally killing himself.

Being impaled on a skeleton was an entirely different rating for pain, however.

It was downright baffling. He couldn't even begin to wonder how he'd survived a fall onto such a dangerous skull. It already stung too much to breathe past the bone stabbing in one side of his neck and poking out the other. Just the sight of it was confusing to his still young mind; being impaled in two different parts of the body meant certain death. When that maintenance worker tried to change his lightbulb, impalement definitely spelled death for him. Why was this any different?

The pain returned every time he moved, shooting up and down his body. He wished he'd never just passed out when he landed, or at least missed the horns by a couple of feet. It was better than being stuck in a very painful position. The Indoraptor gurgled on a mouthful of blood, which joined the rain in dripping onto the floor. He still didn't die.

In pain, yet curious, the creature carefully placed a foot on the nose horn of the skull, then a little further up. A weak push made him slide up ever so slightly, but it was not enough to free him.

Frustration made him snarl unhappily. He pressed a bit more firmly against the skull and even used one of his hands to help. Slowly but surely, his body lifted itself further up the horns and finally managed to unsheath itself from the sharp tips. A strangled screech came from the Indoraptor when he made a clumsy tumble to the flat ground. Of all the pains he could list, that was probably the worst of them.

He lay motionless for an hour or so, afterwards, content to die of the massive holes in his body. Blood was certainly oozing out of his wounds at an alarming rate, and yet he didn't feel the icy cold grip of shock try to steal his life. He just felt the pain and the blood and the rain. Nothing more.

The Indoraptor whined softly. He got himself up on floors weakly, muscles shaking with strain as he righted himself. That accursed raptor-practically flinging him down upon the horns herself. A low snarl built in the base of his throat, but the hole in his neck made it turn into a sputtering cough. He settled for standing up on his hind legs and gently giving the room a sweep of his eyes and nose. Nothing was different from when he'd last been in this room except for a few new human odors. Otherwise, it was as if he'd been alone here for some time.

He limped his way into the hall with a measured pace, pouring a helping of blood here and there as a result. After a few meters of wandering around the more familiar sections of the mansion like a lost dog, The Indoraptor decided that carrying on after suffering such fatal wounds would be a bad idea for its health. It was night, and he would need to rest to clear its volatile head. He crept his way down, down, down into the lower crevices beneath the mansion and roamed past melty hallways of glass and concrete. There, he found his lonely den waiting for him with a door outstretched to welcome him. He entered the familiar, homely cage and stepped past the human skull inside.

He curled up and slept hard.

* * *

Rayla blinked herself awake from her thoughts, and saved herself from walking into a tree.

She had a bad habit of thinking a little too much when she was supposed to be working on a singular thing. Even when walking, there was a good chance a few stray thoughts would cause her to walk right off a cliff. But she couldn't stop internally admiring the way the forest looked as she traversed it's many strange corners. It wasn't like the gardens of Xadia, where a plethora of friendly creatures came out to greet you with open paws. Years of fear instilled by the likes of humans made these animals more skittish around anything that remotely resembled a human. Four fingers or not, one could not deny the physical similarities between the two species. Unless you ask Ranaan, who would heartily explain how elves are completely superior.

The Elven girl finally made it to her actual destination, a rock near the center of camp, large enough to sit on for a moment. They had taken two full days to sneak into the forest, and that took 48 hours of walking alone. Going that long without sleep was normal, but not something she liked if it was as random as this. Her body ached everywhere from being in constant motion, and she was forced to hide it so Ranaan didn't accuse her of being too soft for the team. However, she could tell even he was wincing a little, along with maybe two other elves in their little troop. She knew none of them would admit it.

A growl silenced her quiet thought process, and she leapt to her aching feet with daggers unveiled. It didn't take her long to find what caused the growl and she had to suppress a surprised grin. "Er...Ranaan?"

"Hmm." The stoic elf sighed and gave a glum shrug. "I will admit, none of us have had much to eat during our journey."

"Finally, you admit it." An elf grumbled sourly.

"Too bad we didn't bring rations," Another elf pointed out.

Ranaan gave the elf a disapproving look. "A true Moonshadow Elf can live off the juice from a single Rasberry, for weeks at a time. Besides...I warned you all to eat well before the trip."

Rayla perked up almost immediately. She had a great idea for exploring more of the forest, if Ranaan gave her permission. "Oh! I could get us a deer to eat! We have our fire spells to discreetly cook it. No human would catch onto that, no matter how close they are!"

He looked skeptical of her offer, but the elves that spoke before agreed verbally. She waited patiently for his reaction, watching his falling expression. He rolled his eyes, but smirked all the same. "If you truly wish to move around so much, be my guest Rayla."

She sprinted off before he could change his mind, grinning from pointy ear to pointy ear.

* * *

It was sunlight that awoke him, like the lights from those pestering scientists that always studied him in his cage and wrote things down on their little wooden tablet things. It was from a notable hole in the wall above him, peculiarly high all things considered, which allowed steady rays of sunlight to pierce through all three eyelids and hurt his retina. Snarling in discomfort, The Indoraptor slowly got on all fours and reflexively leaned back on his heels to stretch is long spine. After yawning wide enough to crack the joints in his jaws, he turned to examine the hole shaped wound near his flank.

Only, there was no wound.

He gave a short bark of surprise and sniffed the strangely healed scar a few times, nostrils filled with a greatly aged scent of blood. The beast was greatly puzzled by the smell of time that had passed from his wounds-he'd never slept five days in a row. In fact, he wasn't quite sure if anything he'd ever heard of ever slept that long. His young yet intelligent mind was swimming with questions he couldn't answer, and a truth that spawned them all. Not only had he survived very fatal injuries, but he also healed from those injuries in the span of a week.

A week. He'd been sleeping for a week, and it only felt like he'd dozed a few minutes. How many sunrises had he slept through, before this one awakened him? How many days had it been since he last ate that elevator full of humans, crunching their bones to a pulp and slurping down their brain matter from their skulls? Why had he not died?

Sighing, he resolved to make up answers as soon as he'd found something to fill his snarling belly-he must have some luck finding a decent meal out beyond the mansion. Perhaps once he caught something, he would come back and eat in his newly deserted home. The beast nodded to himself, having caught the tactic from watching humans, and started to step out of his cage...only to stop. His fiery eyes slowly glanced back at the dusty skull looking alone in a corner of the cage. For some reason, he didn't like the idea of leaving it here-it was the only thing he had a positive relationship with after all. He was heading out into a bizarre world that he knew about; maybe his toy could help steel his nerves, should they erupt?

Now carrying the clinking skull in the tips of his black claws, the Indoraptor waltzed out of the cage and down a hall that he knew would lead to a way up and out. Energetic steps propelled him forward; a great contrast to the tired gait he displayed earlier thanks to his grave wounds. Confidentially, he looked around his glass surroundings and paused when he noticed himself in a mirror. Indeed, he looked much better than before. The Indoraptor's lips stretched with a pleased smile, before he started off walking again. Nanoseconds later, the Indoraptor shot back in front of the mirror glass and gaped.

Flesh was covering his teeth.

He pressed his snout against the glass to see better; he actually had... lips . Thin flaps of flesh had grown from just above his sharp teeth and were blocking his pearly whites from view. With a surprised look in his eyes, the dinosaur flexed his newly grown flesh and examined the dark gums surrounding his teeth. Now thi s was definitely deserving of an answer. Now he looked all too similar to that raptor that nearly killed him.

The Indoraptor grumbled incessant things at the back of his throat, made baritone by his own hoarse vocal chords. That cur of a demon almost killed him and attacked him with those annoyingly sharp claws and teeth. If she was still out there, alive and well, he would kill her. He would kill her and eat her and carry her skull around too.

The Indoraptor made his way up to the lowest floor of the mansion, where brown oak floors and walls greeted him. But as he pawed down the hallways like a great black wolf, his sensitive ears detected something. He paused in midstep while his sickle claws tapped the floor nervously; he had heard voices. Yes, human voices just beyond the corner of the hallway.

"You hear that, Kurt?"

A rough, yet feminine sounding voice made the Indoraptor's jaw twitch spastically. The tapping claws became frequent. "Is someone knocking? What's that noise?"

"Someone must still be here." A confused male voice affirmed quietly. He could hear the human pull something out, then a metallic click-obviously the sound of a gun cocking. "Police! Come out and-Holy shi-!"

The Indoraptor often wondered why humans reacted that way to his appearance; their eyes wide and their mouths open in a locked scream of fear. Did they think that shrieking would save them? It was a reasonless reaction in his opinion and rather than allow the male the luxury of screaming, he quickly bit down on his head. A satisfying pop sent a fresh iron taste on his tongue and the blue-clad male went limp. The dinosaur ignored the headless body and whirled to face a barrage of gunfire.

The woman, with red hair that reminded him of that female on the roof, fired with frightening precision against his bulletproof hide. He roared in mock pain the more she fired off and pretended to fall over in death throes, twitching until he was certain that she had run entirely out of bullets. Then he kept himself perfectly still as though he were dead and his eyes only had slits to see through. He could see the shaken woman approaching with quivering limbs, her wide eyes taking in his gangly form with disgust and fear. She lowered the gun-perhaps to reload it.

He slapped the air beneath her chin and snorted as her throat burst open in a spray of red.

The gurgling human succumbed to death in seconds, and the Indoraptor was treated to the first decent snack in about a week's time. His jaws tore into the bodies with some mild difficulty (they were wearing strange armor of sorts), tearing out great chunks of intestines and reveling in the blood he was able to drink from their corpses. Something about the taste of humans was addictive, especially compared to the unalive meat sections he was fed repeatedly-which were cold and tasteless when they slithered down his gullet. The Indoraptor ripped his head up after snatching up the lungs of the female in his jaws. Hmm, rubbery.

With a cackling snarl, the beast rose from the dismantled bodies and stomped off to find the entryway to the giant mansion. He cocked his head as he approached the giant doors, feeling some strange emotion in his chest as he began to pull the handle to open the door.

" **Chrak**." He chirped in a low tone.

Was this uncertainty, the emotions of those fiendish humans? What an odd feeling. It was actually making him pause-making him stop to consider his options. Options that he didn't have much of, to be perfectly honest with himself; staying here would eventually lead him to run out of good food sources. He chirped again and forced himself out into the glaring light of the sun. He blinked and snarled at the giant yellow sphere. Such a bright thing. He didn't like the sun.

The dinosaur wisely turned his sights away from the sun, instead moving down the porcelain stairs and sniffing at the steel car with blue and red lights. It smelled of his recent meals; their sweat and odor mixing with the cold metal. They must have come here in this strange metal contraption, seeking...something. He did not care what.

He looked up, using his great neck to look beyond the gravel courtyard to the forest in the distance. It faded in gradually, first as tall grass and then as a few sparse bushes here and there and finally as towering masses of oak. Trees-they were everywhere, as far as his eagle eyesight could see from his position. The forest loomed high with a shadowy background and dark branches, crooked as they tried reached out to him. Distant noises echoed from beyond the foreboding scene, sounds not dissimilar to the noises he'd heard the night of his escape. The whole mansion smelled of other beasts, including that raptor; he could only assume that they'd all entered the forest some time ago. This also gave him pause.

What compelled them to seek freedom from this place? It was the only environment The Indoraptor had ever known, save for that place with all the bright lights and humans crowded around him. The cold feeling of a cell had become him so much that it stung ever so slightly to be standing in warm soil, with a hot light boring down on him. Perhaps these other animals, like that accursed Raptor, were born in some forest like this and had grown used to living in an environment with so many...variables. The Indoraptor chittered to himself, claws tapping the skull in his grip.

With cautious steps, he plodded forward and disappeared amongst the trees. He would come to sniff at each tower of bark that he passed, big or small, until his nose had become bored of the scent of plants. When he wasn't attempting to sniff at trees, he was fighting off the assault of flies that had grown attracted to the human blood on his muzzle. His lips twitched back in an annoyed snarl while he shook his head-why were these tiny things so persistant on buzzing around his jaws, mindlessly lapping the red liquid staining his lips?The predator bounded forward in a loping run,outpacing the insects and giving himself a much needed rest from his pursuers.

About ten minutes of deep wandering into the forest, he came across a very pungent smell in the air. The Indoraptor cocked his head as the smell hit his nostrils with each puff of his lungs. It was bizarre; a strange urine odor, mixed with dirt. He chittered and stomped off in the direction of the smell, soon coming into a light clearing. In the middle sat a fairly large rodent-like creature with a stout body, stubby legs and a small head. It's body was covered in almost entirely black fur, save for the two white stripes running down its back and its very fluffy tail, which was mostly white. The creature was digging its paws into the earth for something until the dinosaur plodded into view, which caused it's fur to raise in alarm. The scaly beast watched in awe as the small creature raised its tail high in the air, and then backed up towards him with it. The Indoraptor wouldn't have guessed what this meant in time.

A yellow musk suddenly sprayed out from glands beneath the thing's tail, hitting his snout and nostrils in a great cloud. The black beast barked in outrage and alarm at the horrible smell that now clogged his nostrils, lips peeling back in disgust. He slapped the skunk aside with a clawed hand, barely caring as it crunched into a nearby tree or how the human skull fell from his grip. He had to get this horrible smell out of his nose! It was like the musk had stained his face with the horrible scent. He had to get it off, to smell something else.

Ignoring the dead rodent, he picked up the skull and galloped off into a random direction to let the wind waft away most of the residue on his face, then stopped to rub his snout into the ground. The smell was still there, but he would be able to tolerate it and look for other scents as well.

He looked up from his position and noticed he was at the very edge of a large clearing. His eyes swiftly roamed over a field of very tall grass but stayed locked on a large thing in the distance-a large thing that made him snort in surprise and confusion. It looked so strange to him-a four legged thing with its appendages so long that it was nearly as tall as The Indoraptor, despite its head being bent low to the ground. Brownish black fur covered all of its body, some with great patches missing and some parts looking dirtier than others. Flies buzzed incessantly around its hindquarters, but their droning could not drown out the noise of wet chewing. When it's head raised up behind the cover of tall grass, The Indoraptor marveled at the sight of a fat snout and a fairly stout head that connected to it. Aside from unintelligent little eyes and startled ears, he saw that the beast had strange horns protruding from its head at odd angles. They didn't look as sharp as the Triceratops skull that nearly killed him, but they were intimidatingly big.

They stared at each other for a moment; him blinking and it drooling through a mouth full of grass.

Just when he was beginning to think they'd be like that for a while, the hair on the back of the thing's neck stood on end and it started to circle him. The dinosaur frowned as it drew near in it's movements and then, defying logic, it flung a hoof at his snout. A sideways hit made him snarl, both pained and confused by the actions of the beast. The furry creature tried to slap at him with both forelegs, striking blows to his ribs with its blunt hooves. In retaliation, the Indoraptor caught the forelegs in his jaws and crunched down. The furry beas beast snorted and pulled itself free soon after, but at the cost of it's own shins. With his skull toy rolling on the ground, The Indoraptor was free to hiss and dart forward at the unprotected neck of his foe. A satisfying pop had it go limp almost instantly, and the Indoraptor let the body of the moose fall to the ground.

The furry beast was still alive as he began to chew his way through its throat, at least until the eyes glazed over when his teeth scissored through the vertebrae. He picked up the neatly severed head in his hands and examined the teeth. Different than his, like those humans. But these had no canines. Just flat yellow pieces connected to gums and a uselessly rough tongue. The Indoraptor began to nibble at meat left at the neck when he thought he felt something beneath his feet. But it was nothing he could be certain of, so he kept snipping off meaty pieces.

The ground vibrated again. Then again. Then again.

He looked up sharply when he heard the crackle of tree branches, and his eyes widened in sudden terror. He had never seen any creature bigger than he was and therefore never thought that there might be something bigger out beyond the walls. The beast he saw lumbering out from the dark of the forest was an intimidating monster of immense size; a behemoth at least twenty feet tall and much longer in length. It's arms were tiny but it's massive jaws were not, made even bigger by the amount of teeth lining its gums. It halted on two legs in a stalking position and finally ended its thunderous assault on the earth. Black pupils dilated in the direction of the Indoraptor and an unhappy growl vibrated the air itself.

The Indoraptor warbled nervously and stepped back.

The Tyrannosaurus barked and raced towards him, its footsteps causing the earth to shake like rolling thunder. With a hiss of surprise, he sprang up and darted backwards to escape the menace that was all too close behind and starting to gain distance with each massive stride. He galloped forward on all fours and constantly tested the strength of his apeish arms by launching himself over the grassy floor. The giant beast lumbered along like a jogging bear chasing after a deer with a limp-drool falling from the generous lengths of her teeth. The monster ignored the carcass left behind in favor of chasing the threat with the familiar scent of a past foe. He could see in those orange, flaming eyes-he knew the beast would not stop chasing him until he was good and dead.

The Indoraptor sprinted with the aid of those powerful kind legs, whipping past winds at speeds he would probably never know or have ways of knowing. It wasn't long before his lungs began to cry and shrivel, begging for a slower gait so that they could gulp down some air. But to slow down meant the rex would persist longer and kill him. He had to keep running.

He lost his footing on a short hill and promptly the price by rolling head first down between a pair of thick trees. He rolled onto all fours and prepared to dash off again, eyes flickering to the mammoth creature on his tail. He bolted off and-

Where was the creature, anyhow?

" **Zuh**."

The Indoraptor padded to a halt and suddenly took notice of the fact that his certain death was gone, with no trace of footsteps or even a scent of follow. He sniffed at the air again, and then once more just make sure that was right. When he did this, he was quick to realize that the missing Tyrannosaur was not the only strange thing to happen just now. The sky was different- the sun was starting to set now, as opposed to the morning light it had been when he first woke up. The forest was different too. The trees seemed...more flexible than they last appeared, more brightly colored green than dark moss. Scents of animals had changed greatly too-he now scented things that he was certain wouldn't have existed in the forest without him knowing. Perhaps that hill fall was higher than he expected.

" **Hrek** . **Chah** ."

The Indoraptor clapped its jaws together noisily and decided to investigate it's buzzard surroundings-starting with the smells that registered the highest with it. He prowled to his left and was mildly pleased to find that-despite the hot sun blazing down on him with fierce intensity-the grass was soft like cushions beneath his padded feet. There was an abundant lack of insects as well, no flies to buzz around his jaws in a pestering manner. There was the occasional call of an animal in the trees, but it was nothing he found bothersome.

His tongue slithered out when he parted his jaws, flickering once before resting in his mouth again. A nice, warm heat signature about four yards to his right made his stomach growl with new life. Since he hadn't had the opportunity to devour that moose, he would instead settle for catching something new. He set the human skull down in the grass and began to creep towards the source of heat. Soon he found himself gazing from a large patch of bushes, red eyes squinting at a scene in the distance.

A deer-or a doe to be precise- looked ready to bolt away from something in front of it, judging from the cautious angle that it's legs were locked in. It's head was curiously leaning towards something bipedal and he found himself sneering-humans. How had this one come to travel so far into the forest? He gazed at the four fingered hand it stretched out to touch the doe with, knowing in his heart that he would swat aside the deer and bite that feminine hand off. Then he would swallow her whole, kicking and screaming. His hind legs bunched up, preparing to spring forth in a flurry of muscle movement…

* * *

Rayla carefully knelt down in front of the skittish doe, leaning forward to give it an affectionate scratch beneath her chin. She grinned the more it relaxed, the more it nuzzled her hand. The Elven girl cooed gently as she appreciated the warmth of its furry texture, running her fingers along the all too delicate jaw line. "Aw. Ma team is hungreh. But I don't think you'd be big enough for the job, wee one." The doe curiously tilted its head at her as spoke, gazing up with liquid orbs of dark brown innocence. There was so much of it in this creature-in all the creatures of this forest. How such innocence could thrive in the presence of great evil was beyond even the greatest minds.

She pouted. Did humans ever appreciate nature, the way Elves did? Did humans ever stop to think of the things they consumed in pursuit of their dark magics? No, she was certain they did not. The way they acted was clear sign of recklessness in order to achieve more dangerous power. She would love the chance to see a human try to get up close to a doe like this-an innocent creature like this would smell their vileness from a mile away. They'd clear an entire section of a forest just to keep away from-

The doe was gone. It took her ten seconds to realize that it had vanished in a blur of black and red. It took Rayla five seconds to realize something warm had been sprayed on her face. She ran a few fingers over her face and stared intently at the dark red substance on her fingertips. What was this? It looked...like blood? Crunching and slurping noises drew her attention upward.

A pair of dilated pupils in the center of bloodshot eyes stared down at her and crushed what remained of the doe in a single bite.


	2. Page 2

Moonshadow Elves were not supposed to show fear, ever. To do so-to even have fear in the first place, was a sign of severe disrespect to their cause.

Rayla knew this because she had been trained very well in the specific customs of this military clan, and how they dealt with any signs of fear among their ranks. Light offenses of fear were often dealt with being put on disgruntling duties and the bigger offenses would have one placed in a restrictive containment. Then you'd be put right next to the thing you fear the most, given that it's physical until you had eventually overcome your anxiety. She had heard stories of Elves being disciplined through pits of red-back scorpions and venomous spiders, or hung over a nice lake of M'oa constrictors. She was never sure if any of the stories were true, but she would hate be tied up anywhere near the likes of...this.

This beast-This Dragon.

Her eyes widened to size of dinner plates as she stared up,up,up at the towering monster. It's scales were black as night-maybe even darker-and reflected no light from the shining sun. It covered every inch of its twelve foot tall body except for a solitary speckled line running down its sides, colored a dark yellow. The black claws caused chilling goosebumps to pebble her skin; she'd never seen any creature with appendages so pointed or so long. They were practically curved swords, the lot of them-and those sickle claws on the feet looked like they could split a hair. It's apeish arms twitched spastically at times, almost scraping the claws against each other like twiddling thumbs. A tail, a foot longer than its own body, swayed left and right not unlike the slither of a snake.

She scrambled back as it crunched again and lifted it's head in jerking motions to swallow. The head of the doe slowly slid down its throat, eyes glazed with a permanent look of pain and terror. With more crocodilian head bobs, a large bulge was soon sliding down its gullet. Blood dripped down onto her legs when it's head finally began to lower, jaws opening and closing sporadically. Crimson liquid seeped from it's lips and mixed with a clear saliva on the way out. It had jagged teeth- far too many of them to count- hidden behind it's obsidian lips.

The worst part was staring into The Dragon's eyes, those bizarrely wide orbs. It's slitted pupils were dilated to black pinpricks in the middle of red orange spheres. It's bloodthirsty gaze didn't just stare into her soul-it climbed in and snatched it with a strong grip. Her body felt permanently locked in the hold of its eyes, like a hypnotized mouse in the sights of a serpent. There was no hint of mercy within it's gaze, just a hungry glint as it sized her up.

Rayla didn't know what to think, or what to do. Attacking it would be an undoubtedly terrible decision. She'd heard stories of human knights going to fight dragons lesser than The King of Dragons...but they hadn't been stories with happy endings. No, the knights in the tales usually ended up as burned crisps or even a pile of ash blowing away in the breath of the dragon. The less fortunate knights were mangled in the most gruesome ways and had their bones used for nesting or toothpicks. The young elf didn't fancy either of those endings, but still hadn't come up with a plan of attack or escape.

At least, not until it roared.

It's jaws snapped open in milliseconds to utter a roar that sounded much worse than what she expected a dragon roar to sound like. A dragon roar should be intimidating but also heroic in a sense, like a primordial battle cry of an ancient beast. But this Dragon had no roar-it was a scream of death from another world, not meant to be heard by the likes of a mortal. It sounded like an entire herd of pigs were being tortured and butchered in the worst way possible-shrieking at a pitch that hurt her sensitive ears. Yet there was a baritone edge accompanying the scream, like the howl of a panther in the night. However one may describe it's terrible wail, it was this sound that finally spurred her into an instinctive action.

Running.

Rayla shot up from the ground and bolted into the tree tops, forcing herself to ignore the rumbling bark of surprise behind her. Her nimble feet propelled her from tree branch to tree branch like a spry dancer, pushing her forward with speeds she didn't think she possessed. Wind made her eyes blur with liquid, but it was helpful for her panicking lungs. Hopefully the height advantage would allow her to get far enough away from it.

Branches snapped noisily behind her, and some cracked with echoing intensity. She spared a glance behind her to reveal a horrifying sight: the dragon was racing over the branches she'd crossed. It scrabbled in a rabid manner across the wooden platforms and used its claws to hook into the side of the tree trunks it passed. It's tongue lolled from its jaws like a dog chasing a ball, and that comparison made her shudder all the more. Her thoughts flashed back to the mangled doe, the dead glaze in its eyes and the crunching noises. Once it caught up to her, she would be joining that deer in the belly of the beast.

 _No! Don't think like tha', Rayla!_ She told herself mentally, but still stared at the gaining creature as she ran. _Just gah'ta get to th' camp! Just a few more_ -

She tripped over her own foot and fell face first into the ground below, caking half her face with mud. Rayla rolled to a controlled stop and got to her feet in seconds. She wiped the mud from her eye and looked for the black dragon...but she didn't see anything. Empty space sat where she last saw it, excluding a few falling leaves.

She whirled around to face the source of a heavy thud and leaned back just in time to avoid a bite by the beast. It tried to swipe her legs out from under her but she was fast enough to jump and avoid a crippling blow. With an angered hiss, the dragon pounced at her and she was barely quick enough to roll beneath it. Instinct made her unsheath her blades, slashing it across it's belly before she stood up again. She was only mildly surprised to find that she hadn't made a mark-the stories did say that a dragon's hide was indestructible. It didn't mean she couldn't keep trying to dissuade it...somehow.

" **Beh-CHAK. gEH**."

Rayla wrinkled her nose. The noises came from its jaws like bird chatters, if birds had baritone vocal chords and teeth like razors. It began to circle her like a starved Rentha Tiger, keeping low to the ground and ready to pounce. She got a better look at the beast from the side and didn't enjoy what she saw. It's back was hunched thanks to it's head keeping low to the ground, but even it's low stance had it's back standing six feet above her head. To say she was afraid would be a grave understatement, but she had to keep from showing it. The Elf girl turned in opposition to where it turned, blades raised in a gesture she hoped was threatening. It didn't seem threatened. It was just circling and hissing like an angry cobra, quills rattling.

" **Hhhhhhhhhahk. Fnec. Chumf**." The dragon suddenly paused and faced her, gurgling noisily. A liquid sound began to build in the back of it's throat and its jaws opened slowly the more it hacked. " ** _Skreei_. Flugh! Klugh**!"

Rayla was even more confused than before. What was wrong with the creature? It looked like it was about to throw up-or maybe it was choking on something. She took a step back, wondering if she could find a spot to run for. There! A tree with a an opening just wide enough for her to squeeze into. Her nervous gaze swapped to the scrawny dragon. It wasn't doing anything to warn her of an impending attack, just occasionally jerking it's head up and hissing.

 _Sphlat_!

Just when she started to squint closer, a wet slap made itself known against her collarbone and on part of her shoulder. She looked down and gasped with disgust at the black substance that she saw-the dragon had spit on her! How disgusting! Rayla grimaced as she wiped the stuff off quickly, but noticed something odd in a few seconds. Her finger, the exposed skin her suit didn't cover on her arms; it was all tingling as though she'd received a mild electric shock. Her skin was turning a bright pink where the spit touched her, an ugly shade of irritation. No. This wasn't spit. It wasn't-

It was almost too fast to make sense of-she should have been more prepared. The moment she looked up to stare at the dragon was the moment she sealed her doom. A fluid blur hit her square in her right eye and a little in the left, bringing with it a pain she had never experienced before. She yelped as a ferocious fire consumed both eyes in a burning grip, forcing her to blink and rub at her eyes furiously. The pain intensified with each rub and soon it felt like red hot daggers were stabbing repeatedly into her eyeballs. Her blades fell from her hands just so she could try to keep rubbing them-she had to do something to get rid of the pain, anything! It was unbearable! Nothing mattered more than getting rid of it by now!

"Augh! G-Gah," The Elf Girl clawed away sparse amounts of venom and hot tears, falling to her knees in her desperate attempt. She blinked to try and clear her gaze and see again, but only flashing spots of light were visible to her. Was she blind?! No, she didn't want to be blind! Why was this happening to her? Why did-

The ground vibrated when something began to circle around her. That dragon- the devil himself- made a hoarse cawing noise that sounded like cackling. It might as well have actually been laughing- it had her in a very vulnerable position at the moment. Her heart rate rose at the thought of not being able to see it coming, and not being able to defend herself from it.

Then her surroundings became entirely silent.

Her breath hitched in her throat, almost instinctively making her go quiet so she could listen for anything-anything at all. Nothing happened for the longest time and no sound could be heard. A part of her wondered if she had gone deaf as well.

Rayla screamed. A sudden force slapped her sideways and introduced three large whips of searing pain in her side. Her body rolled to a halt against what felt like a tree trunk, almost bending her ribs with the impact. A frightened groan escaped her as she tried to roll onto her knees and hands. A thousand searing needles bit down on her calf with excruciating intensity and yanked, flipping the shrieking girl through the air once more. She landed roughly on the ground, bending her nose in a way that shouldn't be bent on a fist-sized rock. Warmth trickled from her nostrils as the thing chortled. But this time it did not give her a chance to recover.

A crushing weight thrust itself on her back, forcing her breath out of her in a wheeze. Try as she might push up from the ground, it did nothing to move the foot pressing her down, let alone to move period. She grimaced as a sharp point tapped her suit hard along her spine, almost testing for the most painful spot to stab into. Steamy breath wafted over the back of her neck and snaked around her horns, filling her nose with a rotting stench. The dragon rumbled triumphantly above her and tapped its sickle claw harder than before. She couldn't stop the pained whimper from coming out if she wanted to.

"Rayla?!"

Ranaan? Oh, thank Xadia.

The Dragon barked directly above her and she cringed as it's hot tongue caressed her face, leaving behind a trail of stinging slime. Ranaan sounded too far away from her to be of any help, even if he could see them. Perhaps this was where and how she would die: mauled to death by a dragon. She never thought it would be like this; she expected a valiant death alongside her allies. Not...being torn up food for a dragon.

Then something bizarre happened. Air whooshed past her head and then a smaller figure skidded to a halt beside her, followed by several more footsteps. "Rayla! Rayla, are you alright? What happened?"

Rayla blinked at the voice beside her-the familiar presence beside her. She tried to speak but found her voice was clogged with a painful lump.

"...D-dragon."

"What?"

"S-Saw a d-dragon."

* * *

The Indoraptor raked his claws down the side of a tree, growling it's frustrations to the heavens.

He shouldn't have been so playful with his food. The chase had gone well, even if she displayed bizzare leg strength in the trees. Her weapons had been useless and...his newfound venom appeared to work wonders. He just had to go to and toss her round for amusement! He should have ended it and carried her off to enjoy her tasty form in private. Now he had lost his lunch.

And it wasn't just his loss of food, but a more personal vendetta that he had created with that young female. He craved the scent of that one-he lusted for the taste of her blood in his jaws after licking her scrumptious face. It was different from the skin of humans, sweeter and tangier in so many ways. Even the appearance was addictively different from the likes of humans; what with her decadent horns and her tempting pale flesh. If he could just get his jaws around her graceful throat, her body would fit so nicely in his belly.

He grumbled as he peered out from the bushes again at the gathering of the non-human, who tended to his prey in her feeble state. He had to admit that he had been greatly surprised by the venom that spurted out from his mouth, from glands beneath his tongue. He'd never done that before and had never even seen those holes in the mirror. Still, he was not complaining about his newfound skill-it would be very useful for hunting larger prey when the time came. He knew he would eventually encounter another moose or even have to fight that large animal that chased him here.

"Let's return to camp. I have medical supplies and balms that should heal her wounds and clear her sight." One of the non-humans remarked to the one he assumed was the Alpha. "And whatever is out there might return soon,"

The Alpha nodded with a grim expression and soon he and his non-humans were carrying off his prize to who knows where. The Indoraptor chirped sadly as he watched her be carried off, his jaws overflowing with a fresh amount of drool. Alas, he would not dwell over the thought of her for too long-he would distract himself to keep from doing anything...brash. He snarled to himself to vent his frustrations, and noticed a particular noise in his throat. The dinosaur created the snarl with a lighter pitch, and then tried again with an even lighter pitch than before.

"... **A-Augh**!"

He breathed.

"Augh!"

That sounded…

" _Augh_!"

That sounded just like the pained cries of that female he attacked! He rubbed his throat in confusion, trying to make sense of his ability to perfectly imitate the noises. He was becoming more and more unhappy with the lack of explanation over his newfound abilities and he was uncertain why he was so grumpy now. His curiosity had grown since his near death experience, if seemed. His claws scraped over the human skull with thoughtfulness.

The Indoraptor raised his head skyward and inhaled a lung's worth of air to determine what to do next. Above the smell of the non-humans, his senses gathered another scent that didn't seem quite normal in this forest. He chattered noisily and stomped off in the smelly direction to investigate, traveling through dense wooded areas and even a few clearings as well. He galloped on all fours past towering masses of bark, admired the further darkening skies and slowly but surely made his way to the smell. It was not a particularly pleasant odor, but there were traces of tasty things involved with it. Perhaps actual humans? They often had more than one odd scent to them. There was also a distinct feeling he could detect in the distance-a high source of warmth the likes of which he had never felt before. He would never know that the cavities in his skull had alerted him to such heat, but he probably wouldn't care for such information regardless."

When he paused at the edge of a medium sized hill, he looked down to a bizarre display. There was a large campfire sitting in the midst of a clearing, surrounded by bloated figures sitting on logs. The Indoraptor watched without a sound as he examined the creatures closer. While their bodies were indeed meaty, their arms and legs seemed grotesquely long-even more apeish than his own limbs. Like Chimps socializing, they each poked into the fire with a large stick and grumbled to themselves things he couldn't quite hear. They were a green so dark that he thought they were black, with skin as rough looking as sandpaper and small pointy ears on their stout heads. From what he could see, they had beady eyes and a giant mouth of tiny yet sharp teeth.

One of the creatures wiped along a jagged dagger with a dirty cloth, snot oozing from it's large nostrils. "An' then he guts him, just like that. Says his flesh cooked pretty good with Banshee oil, but ya gotta marinate it."

He glanced at another creature. as he spoke up."Elf with Banshee oil? Seriously? Everybody knows an elf would be better with Equjack peppercorn."

"Not everybody sees Elves, let alone gets a chance to eat 'em."

"We'll have a chance if we tell the king about the one I almost nabbed. They catch em and give em all to us as a reward."

Perhaps they would have said more on the matter if he hadn't interrupted in a sudden, uncoordinated attack-rushing down at top speed and leaping upon them all with outstretched claws. Suffice to say, the odd creatures were highly surprised at the big black beast tearing through some of their frail bodies like paper but were apparently not the type of prey that preferred to run in such situations. A few quickly scooped up sharp objects in their hands and made to stab him with the likes of swords, spears and pointed maces. He grunted as their weaponry uselessly scraped over his pebbled skin, causing little more than an itchy irritation to spring up here and there. He used his tail to whip a trio of them aside and then swiped at one that was far too close, splitting his stomach open to reveal gristly intestines.

The Indoraptor began to pounce on another when one of them grabbed something from the corner of his eye and shouted: "Lux!"

An explosive flash of light knocked him sideways and sent his massive body sprawling away from the campfire. When he'd finally rolled to a halt and regained his senses, the Indorpator snarled at the fiendish creature that had blasted him back. He curiously gnarred as he saw what weapon the creature had used; it appeared to be a glass ball of some sort, containing a very bright energy within it's clear casing. This was the source of heat he'd sensed before, and even now it's raw energy was baffling to him. Not to mention troubling, if it could send him sprawling for a few paces. He shrieked at the creature holding the ball of yellow energy and huffed when it only glared at him.

"It's a damn dragon! There ain't supposed to be dragons outside of Xadia!" He regarded the Indoraptor with unkind eyes and a sneer. "Ugh. For a dragon, he's the ugliest son of a-"

The Indoraptor had hacked up that black fluid by that point, hitting the creature square in his eyes and sending him into a screaming panic, one that escalated when the black beast bit off the arm holding the glowing sphere. After some difficulty swallowing the ball along with the arm, the dinosaur lept upon the unharmed bodies of the others and tore them open with the aid of his hungry maw. At some points, one of the squealing creatures would escape his snapping teeth for a short distance, only his claws to hook their spines and drag them right back to him. In under three minutes he had gathered their motionless corpses into a pile to rest upon.

The amount of bloodflow threatened the campfire with extinction, but it somehow went on despite the liquids surging to drown it. A warm feeling began to emanate from his belly anyhow, most likely the result of swallowing that sphere whole earlier. As he licked blood from his claws and began to pick which body to desecrate first, he wondered just what that ball was to begin with. Would it be fatal to him?

He hoped not. It tasted nice and spicy going down.

* * *

" _Ssssss_." Rayla hissed between her teeth and tried her best not to scream. Her nose, set back into place, only continued to bleed. "Donae touch it like tha'!"

The Elf dressing her wounds payed her no attention, continuing to apply the healing balm where she saw fit. Squirming would do no good for spreading it around, but she'd already been warned that multiple times so there was no sense in telling her to lie still. Although, the placement of the balm wasn't the only reason she needed to stay still; her wounds were the width of a strand of hair, but could open up with more ovements. Three very thin streaks of red were noticeable across the girl's pale abdomen, one long enough to stretch from the corner of her belly button to the edge of her hip. "You need to relax, Rayla. You won't heal by squirming around like this."

"Ah wusna squirming! It's not like I can just fahget all about the pain and just pretend nothing happened." The Elven girl pouted to herself. "This is just belter. Pure belter."

Another elf rolled his eyes at the words she spoke. "I didn't take you for the type to cry over wounds, Rayla."

Rayla gave him a look that she hoped conveyed that she would fight him if she weren't having her wounds dressed. In fact, she briefly considered shooting up right then and there. "Es nah ordinary wounds, ya bampot. I tol'joo-A giant dragon up from nowhere came and swiped me like that."

Her healer sighed. "It's a good thing it didn't try too hard, whatever it was. This dragon could have cleaved you in half and taken your foot off with that bite."

Ranaan opened one eye from his meditating stance. "We're still having trouble believing that a dragon was responsible for this."

She growled at him, pointing at the wounds being tended to. " Really? Y'cannae deny this! Ya think I'd just give mahself three lashes here?!"

Runaan winced slightly at her accusations, but managed to keep his face straight otherwise "I don't deny that you were attacked, Rayla. But you were blinded. Perhaps it was a bear that you didn't see."

"I was blinded after th'-Augh! Fecking ballheid," She bit her tongue instinctively for a moment after, as part of well engraved manners for using sailor language. Remembering who she was in the company of, she ignored the sharp pains and continued. "I didn't go blind until after I got a good look at th' bastart. He...spat somethin'...awful in mah eyes and then went ta work."

"Well why did he leave before we arrived? He could have easily carried you off or fought us all if it were a true dragon."

"I dunno! Maybe it doesn't want to attack the rest of you."

Ranaan looked away in deep thought, as intensely as he meditated. Then he looked back to her with a questioning gaze. "The dragon is angry at you, then. I believe you must have done something to invoke it's ire."

The Elf addressing her wounds, Raina, finished bandaging her abdomen and handed her the top half of her suit again. "What were you doing before it attacked you?"

Rayla stared at him incredulously, but the working of fear also worked into her expression. It was as good an explanation as any and offered a reasonable thought as to why it kept its distance from the others when they approached. She wasn't sure what she might have done to piss off the dragon so much but, much to her displeasure, she eventually came up with an answer. "I...I was pettin' a small doe before he came along and ate it. You...don't suppose…"

With a mildly sympathetic shrug, her leader sighed through his nostrils. "He must have thought you were stealing his prey. It put you on his most hated list, so to speak. Aside from our combined goal to end the war, it seems you gained a more personal goal." He explained. "Finding a way to apologize to this supposed dragon to dissuade it from trying to kill you."

The skeptic elf smirked at her. "Better hope he doesn't come for you tonight."

Then the night was split open with an inhuman shriek.

The elves were instantly on their feet, Rayla included, weapons poised to attack the slightest sign of moment. Rayla slowly but surely managed to put her suit back on, then found Ranaan's cautious gaze. "That's the' sound tha' black devil made."

Raina looked around as if she might see the dragon waiting for her to notice him. "Ranaan, that was in the direction that I ran into that goblin."

The youngest assassin winced from the pain of her dressed wounds but managed to stand tall and alert. "You ran into a goblin?"

"Yes. I took a look around the perimeter of our territory, just as you did. I suppose we both ran into bad luck," She responded with a despondent grimace and pointed to something on her face. Rayla was not sure how he missed the small cut extending from the corner of her lip, but she felt bad for not noticing it before. " We were both surprised to see each, but he was the one with the weapon and the one who reacted quicker. I shouldn't have been surprised."

"We make mistakes to grow stronger. You will have your revenge in good time." Ranaan went silent to listen for any more sounds, then finally spoke up after a tense minute or two. "Let's investigate the noise. Carry your weapons, but do not attack unless I give the order to do so. Understood?" Rayla nodded with the rest of them. "Good. Now let's go."

Under the darkness of the night and the power of the full moon, the Elves moved much quicker across the dark tree branches than they normally would in the day. Rayla felt relieved and less stressed as she admired the change in her skin tone from light pink to a dark grey. Her muscles moved with greater strength than ever before, allowing her body to shoot across the span of several trees with a single bound. The other elves had more experience with this newfound strength; Rayla had to move fast to keep up with them at the pace they traveled.

In time, they finally reached their destination and slowed to a stoic halt in the trees. Rayla stopped in between Raina and Ranaan, already preparing herself for an unpleasant sight just by the looks on their faces. No amount of preparation could have stopped her from feeling sick to her stomach at the scene she witnessed.

Whatever goblin or goblins that had been encountered, they were all dead now. No two goblin bodies were ever alike; one could be entirely disembodied while another could be missing all its limbs and a third could have a caved in rib cage. Blood and gory bits were scattered all around the trashed campsite, and it all glinted in the dimly lit campfire. Rayla shuddered as she detected a few eyeballs and ears in the light of the dying flames. She shuddered again when she saw, atop a pile of shredded corpses, the cause of so much bloody destruction.

What scared her was how casual it looked, sitting on that nest of flesh and bone with it's scales soaked in red. His rawboned body was relaxed like a hen roosting, with only its powerful neck, jaws and arms at work. It's hands held a goblin limb up to a maw full of scissor ing teeth; gnawing away feverishly until the meat had been stripped and it was simply chewing on a scarlet bone.

"...T-Tha's him," Rayla confirmed with a breath more than a whisper.

The Dragon looked up with a chittering remark, eyes flicking to their hiding spot. Rayla wasn't sure if it knew they were there in the trees, but after a while, the beast went back to chewing on the bone. Ranaan ignored the sound of the bone snapping under the pressure of its jaws. "They must have attacked the dragon, foolish goblins."

"Good riddance to them," Raina frowned grimly at the sight, but there was a glint of satisfaction there as well.

The elf that had teased her earlier nodded at the sight of the dinosaur. "Ranaan, the dragon has slain our enemies….and possibly saved us from being exposed before we could carry out our mission. Perhaps we should ask it to help us to end the war."

Rayla looked at him sharply, then turned her horrified gaze to her leader. Even if the dragon agreed to the offer-which she strongly doubted by the way-she wasn't sure if she could trust a demon so bloodthirsty and vicious in it's actions. Maybe Ranaan thought the same about the great black dragon, or perhaps he had made a decision based off of Rayla's uneasy expression. In either case, he shook his head. "No. Solitary dragons are not known for joining sides. To ask for help would earn a dismissal, or even invite our own deaths at his claws."

Rayla quickly added. "Perhaps it's best we leave now, aye?"

When he nodded, the other elves instantly fled the area and Rayla followed close behind them. However, she paused to look back because of some horrible urge and witnessed another unpleasant sight. The dragon was standing tall atop the pile of bodies with a skull held up in it's claws like a crude sock puppet.

It smiled at her, a grin far too wide and toothy.

She shivered and rushed to catch up with the others.

* * *

The Indoraptor was starting to enjoy this hunting game.

He traveled as much of the woods as he desired since the massacre of those ugly creatures, testing his strength against that of larger creatures in the forest and learning from his victorious battles. He'd dismembered large wooly carnivores, multicolored feline creatures and even herbivorous quadrupeds as large as the toothy beast that chased him to this strange land. He killed them all and feasted on their still breathing forms, growing a fondness for the taste of hot blood on his tongue.

But most importantly, he was enjoying that non-human girl. At least part of his days were spent stalking her from afar and waiting for an opportunity to attack her (which never came despite his hopefulness). He would wait in the bushes, or some high perch in a tree and watch her from that position. It was almost painful how his claws twitched with longing and how his jaws ached for her, lusted for her body in his bite. Still, he'd gladly take the internal torture if only to watch her more. The more he followed her around secretly, the more appetizing and downright delectable this...Rayla appeared to be.

He had hung around long enough to find that Rayla was her apparent name-the other non-humans kept calling her that and she called them different names in return. He didn't care much about anything beyond that. They always had one of their own watching late at night for any signs of danger, so it didn't leave him an opportunity to get closer lt Rayla let alone eat her...Until his most recent night when the non-human serving as a guard fell asleep. Perfect.

The Indoraptor slithered his way between sleeping bodies and followed his tongue to the ambrosial girl he desired. He found Rayla in a strange sleeping position on top of a thick, twisted tree root. Her arms were folded behind her head and one of her legs dangled off the tree root. A calm, neutral expression was on her face and he became aware that the heat of the forest caused a light amount of perspiration on the non-humans. With nary a sound, he crept up to her side and nudged her dangling leg softly with his snout as a test. Rayla must have been a deep sleeper because she gave no reaction to this.

Like a kitten examining its new toy, so did the Indoraptor examine the girl. She had a protective suit on but it did not stop him from sniffing and nudging parts of her body for knowledge. Some areas were toned and muscular and other spots were softer, fleshier. He was often confused by humans and their differences in terms of gender-The Alpha of their group had a muscular pectoral region that he was sure would feel as hard as a rock but females always had soft torsos-extra flesh for some reason. And he didn't even want to start on their facial markings. The Alpha had two markings across the bridge of his nose and his cheeks. Rayla only sported markings on her cheeks. And what were their horns for? He'd never once seen-

Rayla twitched ever so slightly as his snout flushed warm air over her neck. An inhale gathered a particularly tasty aroma and investigating gave him the source. The way her protective skins were designed left her underarms and part of her arms exposed to the elements. His tongue snaked out slowly and flicked at some skin on her arm, just a little bit. Spicy, salty flavor exploded over his tongue at that small little and he whined at being unable to compare her extravagant taste to anything tongue lapped more boldly at her armpit, scooping out more and more juicy flavors with each lick. The Indoraptor only paused when she gave a sleepy giggle, then another when he continued to lick there. He smiled as she smiled; how ironic of her to be laughing so close to her own death.

Speaking of which, he was beginning to have seconds thoughts about eating this delicate apple, at least right now. As gratifying as it would be to tear out her throat or show her her own intestines, he knew it wouldn't be as satisfying as when she was awake. Right now she would have that pumping heart, those whimpering struggles to live. No, he couldn't kill her in this state, but he would savour her flesh in good time.

His claw tenderly grasped a lock of her silky hair, then mockingly stroked along her cheek.

Then it was gone, along with a predator with brewing plans


	3. Page 3

The blinding sun awoke King Harrow slowly. The hot glow of light took its time stinging beneath his eyelids, prodding him painfully back to the world of the awakened people. It took a little more time for him to register just where he was and that it was sunlight that awakened him. He numbly remembered that he was in bed, in direct line of the window, but it was always closed in the morning. He grunted and finally managed to squint his eyes against the sun, where he saw something other than open window. A figure in familiar robes, wielding a staff as high as his own head, was standing to the right of the window and peering intently at him. Harrow flopped back onto his pillow.

"Viren...didn't I tell you if you ever woke me up this early again," He asked with a sigh. " I'd have you executed?"

"I know you were joking, My King." The slightest bit of mirth may have returned to Viren's aged face, but it disappeared too quickly for anyone but himself to be sure. "I'm afraid I have troubling news to give you this morning. Hence my barging in,"

Harrow rubbed his eyes of sleep and groggily sat up in bed. "Troubling enough to wake me up so soon?"

He frowned deeply, seemingly too distressed to speak for a moment. "...Eight of our soldiers are dead, and Fourteen more are gravely wounded."

Harrow stopped rubbing, needless to say. He looked up at Viren and watched as his Mage's face grew more tired looking. The King processed his words with shocked blinks, and then he was looking up at Viren again. "That's twenty two men."

"I know," Viren said.

"Was this an attack?"

"To our understanding. Those who survived are apparently too afraid to give more details on what it was that attacked them."

"It? This wasn't the work of an army?"

Viren shook his head. "The most information I've learned is that a...fairly large beast attacked them. This happened just outside our east entrance to the kingdom last night, thankfully far away from the west entrance or else…"

Harrow sat up in bed and grimaced. He already knew that the village resided before the west entrance, filled with citizens of the Kingdom. Several innocent villagers could have suffered if this...beast attacked there instead of where it did. Unfortunately, it didn't make things any less pleasant. "And you said the men who survived are too shaken to give more details?"

The High Mage confirmed that with a nod. "That's partly why I woke you up, my king. I was hoping that your influence could...encourage someone to talk."

Hours earlier….

* * *

It was another dark and stormy night.

The Indoraptor enjoyed these nights immensely, relishing the cold atmosphere beneath the moon as it soothed his constantly irritated scales. It was a lot better than the nights where the rain would only be able to pound against the mansion roof and run down the stone plates instead of his body, echoing even in the underground chambers beneath the large house. In his pitch black cage, he would lie down among the bones of happless pre-killed goats and stare into the inky nothingness that surrounded him. He had night vision, but he still stared and tried to imagine what it was like to see nothing but darkness and hear nothing but rain. Sometimes it was his only comforting way of getting any sleep in that horrid metal place.

Luckily he had long since abandoned that dreadful life for one less restrained, in a land where he would never be underfed and denied his constant itch to kill and gore. He'd been here for a week now and greatly enjoyed this new land. He was free to choose to his own cave to live in and was quite proud of the cave he selected for his new home, given that it was more than large enough to fit five tyrannosaurs and maybe three more of whatever he was. Granted, it's previous owner had been a giant, purple feline with two cubs and a fierce attitude towards intruders, but he made quick work of all three of them with...techniques he'd been perfecting. Hunting and fighting were games if you thought about it his way; there were winners and losers and great prizes too. So far he had been one of the winners in this bizarre forest, even going up against very large and very angry creatures. The giant feline had left him with a few light scratches but ultimately, his claws were much longer and much sharper than anything the feline had to offer. He'd finished slurping out the organs of the tiny cubs and had just managed to down half of the mother when the first rumble in the sky gave him pause. He looked up briefly, head cocked as he examined the slowly darkening sky. He cawed hoarsely when the second booming sound erupted above his curious head and greeted his gaze with streaks of thin light. Then came the downpour, gloriously hammering the earth with all of its wonderful raindrops and turning the hard soil into something soft and mushy. He barked with pleasure as the weather produced more falling water from the sky and loud sounds that accompanied the bright flashes of light.

The Indoraptor had gone out of the cave more than once with a hollowed shell (from a mammoth tortoise that was quite delicious and spicy) to collect rainwater before it could become one with the ground. He got the idea after recalling how some of the humans that studied him carried around strange containers of steaming liquid, sipping it and smacking their lips. He may not be able to simulate the steam in his case, but he could at least appreciate portable water. He must have guzzled five shells of water, urinated it all and then drank another set after.

Content, he gnawed on the spinal cord of the large feline to get at the tendons, scissoring away with the sharp points of his teeth. The beast didn't quite care what he was doing-as long as he had something to do. A bored dinosaur was a desperate dinosaur and he loathed desperatism. As it was, he just so happened to inhale during a gnawing motion and caught wind of a succulent taste beneath the heavy drapes of rain. The Indoraptor smiled as it's head shot up, claws tapping the stone ground in glee.

 _Rayla_.

" **Wehk**." He grinned widely.

The subject of his obsession was apparently on the move. Nevermind the scents of the other non-humans around her-he only cared about the seductive scent of that delicious girl, calling to him through the calming storm. Chittering in delight at the prospect of spying on her again and maybe even dining on her scrawny, mouth watering body, the black beast scooped up his human skull and trotted out of the cave. Rayla and her...pack were not far off, and he could catch up in a few minutes even if they were on the move. He galloped on all fours through crowded places in the forest and occasionally hopped over bent trees.

Aside from the thought of devouring food, he wondered what she was up to at this time of night.

* * *

 _Plink_!

Gretta kicked a stray rock with her boot, and watched it sail from the muddy ground and into the air for a moment. "We don't need horses where we're going, Gee. We can walk all by ourselves, Gee. No distance or weather should stop us, Gee. Don't be a wimp, Gee." She's glared at him from a sidelong angle. "Well look where we are now. "

In hindsight, Marcos should have guessed that they would need a couple of horses to take up most of the travel to and from their destinations. Sure, the east border was not more than three days worth of walking and rest, but that could have easily been cut down to a day's travel. He had wanted a more energetic, scenic route but found that he had a little too much energy by the end of it. His feet were killing him, his back was torturing him and he was sure that Gretta probably felt a hundred times worse. She dragged herself long after that trip, hunched over and wearing a very tired look. If she had known she was going to end up looking like this, she might not have agreed to accompany him and retrieve the messages from the Eastern border.

"Well, I for one don't regret it, " He lied, attempting to raise his spirits and possibly hers by looking unfatigued. In truth, his clinking armor was starting to feel like tons upon his back. Even worse, rain was swelling upon them in pounding drones that constantly assaulted their heads. He felt like a giant block of ice, getting colder the more the wind whipped against them. "We've had a much more memorable experience walking this far as opposed to just riding this far."

Gretta pursed her lips. "Yeah, I'm gonna look back on this day years from now. 'Boy, I remember when I walked seven miles in icy cold downpour. Those were the days'."

"We'll be inside soon, alright? Let's just keep walking and try to enjoy the serene blend of weather and nature! Times like this don't show up every day you know." Marcos tried to show some optimism, and thankfully his only response was a mild sigh. He glanced down at his brunette partner and shrugged. "You know, Gee...this actually reminds me of our second date on Briar Hill! With the blanket and the sunny sky and the sandwiches?"

She quickly scoffed his smile off. "The forecast called for rain that day and you knew it. If only you weren't such a stubborn planner."

The man snorted away her accusations. "Be that as it may, we still enjoyed her ourselves, didn't we? Hmm? You can't deny that."

Gretta's cheeks lit up faintly in the dark, but she still kept her unhappy expression rooted to her face. "Hmmph. Only because we took shelter in some abandoned barn and watched from the loft. There were rats in that dingy old place."

"I also brought us some nice sandwiches that day."

"Ham and rotisserie chicken slices are hardly in the range of nice sandwiches. Sure, they weren't bad at all...but...er, the weren't the best meal." She argued with a failing tone. "Although...the fried potato slices you added weren't so bad either…"

"... _aaand_?" He prodded.

A small smile finally broke out, a clear sign of surrender. "The drink was mediocre at the least."

"Finally! You admit it," He laughed aloud. "I am a poet with mead-making!"

"I never said that at all! You always over exaggerate the simplest of-"

Squelch!

"Oh, perfect! Just perfect!" Marcus stopped short of another step, curiously staring down. Gretta growled as she tugged on her foot, submerged in a fairly deep patch of mud hat she hadn't noticed in time. "Who puts a muddy sinkhole in the middle of the road?!"

Marcos laughed and knelt down in the mud next to her. It seemed that she was stuck up to mid-shin in dark brown mud that heavily clung to her limb. Nothing a good tug wouldn't fix, if they both pulled at the same time. He dug into the hole and grasped her ankle, before glancing up at her. "Alright. Let's pull out on three."

She nodded and his grasp tightened. "Alright, one...two...thr-"

 _Snik_.

Just as her foot was freed from the liquid entrapment, a twig snapped somewhere behind her. Gretta was the second one to actually give it any thought, since her partner was now staring intently behind her. She joined his gaze off into the darkness created by a small grove of trees and bushes. The night and the heavy rainfall only served to make things worse for the eyes of the two humans, who peered intently for any signs of movement.

"Maybe it was some woodland creature." Gretta breathed.

"Out in _this_ weather?" He asked.

"...Good point." She stood up to her full height and tried to gain more sight by leaning forward. "Couldn't tell for sure. You?"

Marcos shrugged at her and also found himself standing to his full height. The darkness before them seemed too threatening to be normal, to be hiding any harmless fauna. He inhaled as much breath necessary for a verbal warning and began. "Who goes there?!"

Nothing moved. "Show yourself!" A little frustrated and worried, he tried again. "In the name of King Harrow, I demand that you show yourself!"

The rain filled the silence with static noise. It became more unsettling as time passed by, yielding no fruit for his efforts. Nothing moved and nothing spoke for several seconds, and then a few minutes. From the corner of his vision, he saw Gretta slowly turn to shoot him an uncertain look, and that's when the sound came. The unmistakable noise when a bow string is pulled back, just milliseconds away from being released. Marcos felt a strange, foreshadowing chill before his body leaped into action.

He just barely managed to shove her out of the way time before a thin blur flashed past them as fast as a blink. Gretta cried out as a thick red line was painted on the side of her neck, losing more red as he pulled her backwards away from the dark shadows. He unclipped his loaded crossbow with the false assumption that dirty bandits had waited on the path to attack and steal from them. A flash of lightning illuminated the dark tree grove for just an instant, and his reflexes had him to fire before he even realised who was hiding in the shadows. When the image played over in his head, depicting his arrow hitting the shoulder of a shocked figure, he felt fear grip his heart. Marcos looked back to his partner.

"Gretta, are you good to run?" He asked.

Gretta's left hand was a dark scarlet color, painted that way from the way she covered the small gash on her neck. She seemed surprised and a little frightened by the near death experience, but she nodded quickly. "Y-yeah! I-I can...run." She stumbled back with him, nervously glancing to the origin of the arrow that struck her. "Bandits?!"

Marcos swallowed as he half sprinted, half pushed her along. "Elves! Keep moving!"

As if she needed any motivation after hearing what attacked her. They needed no introduction-no formal prelude to explain what elf assassins were or what they could do. They were the most dedicated killers in history, which equally made them the deadliest kind. Marcos couldn't begin to recount the dozens of lives taken by pairs of Elven assassins, or the many more taken by entire packs. The only traces they left behind in their murderous wake were headless bodies and widows. He knew what Elven Assassins were.

Just their luck they had to encounter Moonshadow Elves.

* * *

Rayla made nary a breath as she darted forward.

It was a bit surprising to be selected for the job, but she was not going to complain about handling potential threats. When they investigated the arrival of two humans traveling along the path to Harrow's kingdom, she traveled alongside her fellow assassins to intercept them before they reached their land and hid in the shadows of trees. When they were eventually discovered, Rayla found brief shock coursing through her body when Runaan gave the hand signal for Rayla to follow them. It wasn't nearly as shocking as this morning when she witnessed firsthand the sensation of being blood bonded to their mission. A second's worth of hesitation followed before she finally reacted by shooting off from the ground and following them.

Her feet padded silently in the muddy earth while the humans sprinted like a loud flock of Fila-Ma-Loo birds to evade her. They were far ahead of her but she gained ground every time they had to clumsily hop over fallen trees and cracks in the ground. The Elf girl scaled these obstacles with the agility of a Tanacht Leopard, often utilizing a backflip or somersault to get past a very high log. Things got tricky when she had to squeeze through a bramble of thorny bushes and vines, but she was wearing her thick hood and suit, thankfully. It was right after that moment that a stray arrow whistled past and knicked her bare shoulder.

There was a moment of brief shock, followed a growing anger at the audacity of the humans. With a growl, Rayla charged forward with even more force than before and leveled her arms out behind her for a more streamlined position. The elven assassin flung herself to the tops of trees to avoid another near miss, hopping from one branch to another without missing a beat. At times she used her momentum and one of her curved blades to swing from a high branch to a lower one. The humans would occasionally look back in hopes of knowing where she was, this leading to a nearly fatal mistake.

Rayla watched as they tumbled over the edge of a short cliff and hissed when they disappeared beneath the black surface of a pool of rainwater. Time passed her by very slowly. Just when she assumed they'd both drowned in the filthy muck, two heads popped up from the surface to gasp. They'd shed their armor to stay afloat; a wise choice, though it would not save them. For...reasons, Rayla would not dive into the water after them-not when it seemed wiser to land in the more shallow portions of it.

Rayla's careful landing grabbed the attention of the humans, who both scrambled their way out of the water and backed away from their approaching killer. The male guard glanced behind them and shoved the female in the direction of the treeline. "Go! Run back to the kingdom!"

The female glared at him from behind and unsheathed a small sword. Her expression was certain, yet not entirely unafraid. "I'm not leaving you."

Rayla briefly wondered about the history of these two humans. For a split second, she wondered if they had a planned future together and if they were both afraid of this being their last day alive. For a fraction of a second, she wondered if she could actually bring herself to kill the two of them no matter the cost…

Then in the next fraction, she flicked her blade up and slashed along the arm of the male. He leaped back in pain and thusly allowed his mate rush up and swing her own blade. She seemed a bit more skilled in the art of sword fighting but not as skilled as Rayla was. The elf girl made quick work of parrying the oncoming attacks and dodging the whistling blade until she finally managed to knock the sword out of her hands. Rayla made to thrust her blade into her opponents stomach, but the woman fluidly stepped to the side and promptly socked her in the jaw.

 _Okay then_. Rayla gritted her teeth as she kicked both feet forward and launched the woman backwards. The male had recovered enough to rush forward with his own sword, but his was knocked out of his hand much faster. Before he could go for the hidden dagger, she knocked him onto his backside and flicked her wrists. Her blades rested on either side of his throat, ready to pass each other open his neck. The male did not dare to move.

Time stopped for her.

Rayla should have found it all too easy to connect the sharp edges of her blades, to watch him bleed out and do the same to the female. It would have been simple to take the deceased bodies and hide them somewhere where they would never be found or to let some wayward beast desecrate their bodies for sustenance. It should have been easy to kill them.

"Don't!" Rayla's ears twitched uncomfortably when the female took notice of the situation but stayed her distance. Her voice seemed on the verge of cracking-desperate and scared. "Please, don't!"

The male didn't fare any differently, it seemed. She was hoping he would put on an expression that would urge her to kill him-to wear a look of anger, hatred or even a dignified sneer. But instead of any inspiring emotions, he stared up at her with the pure definition of fear written all over his face. His eyes were wide, face as pale as the moon itself. The more she stared, the more her hands shook.

 _Jes' do it. Connect th' blades, Rayla. Jes' connect th' blades. Ya cyant let 'm go. They'll tell th' whole kingdom. Jes' slice his throat open. Do it. Com on. Jes' do it, already!_

Rayla's blades dropped from his neck, and she stepped back.

* * *

" **Chrek**?!"

The Indoraptor shot upright, barking in confusion.

It hadn't taken the black beast long to find his tasty snack and her posse, all hiding in the narrow space of a few trees as rain pounded down on them. The dinosaur had wondered what they were waiting for at first when a pair of humans arrived on the scene. This time he could tell they were humans-he could identify their horrible aura wherever he went. Apparently, the non-humans despised the humans as much as he did because Rayla went darting after them.

The Indoraptor found no difficulty in following the three of them, bouncing from thick log to thick log with the grace of a cat and stalking low in the grass to remain unseen. He gawked at Rayla when she rose to bound from tree tops, fascinated by her skill in this forest. He could never hope to be so nimble, but it was...nice to watch her.

He raced to the edge of the cliff they all went over and peered down excitedly, tail swaying like a giddy puppy. The humans had been quickly defeated by Rayla, who was now about to cut open the throat of one of them. The monster's eyes widened to take in the sight, anticipating the fatal chop that would mix blood and water…

That was when he shot upright, barking in confusion. Rayla gave up just when the tension was highest; her blades dropped to her sides and left no cuts. As if to make things worse, the male human swiftly scrambled to his feet and rushed away with the other in tow. And what did Rayla do? She stood there with a hunched, pitiful stance.

The Indoraptor snarled and raked his claws on the ground. She had the opportunity to end their lives! Why did she hesitate?! Why did she give up?!

With a ferocious gurgle, he galloped down after the disappearing humans until the trees started to thin out. The female one seemed to be doing the most by urging him on, despite his arm's injuries. With his good arm, the male human unsheathed something from his side and shot it into the air. A great sparkling ball of magenta reached its peak in the night sky and illuminated everything.

They had been running towards a giant human structure.

It was far taller and far bigger than the mansion he roamed in his past, like a mountain with man-made carvings and angles. He could see that it was made of objects like brick, but thicker and rounder than them. A giant stone gate sat before a in empty stone courtyard, with tall wooden doors in place. Perhaps it was the shot of light that sparked it or something else entirely, but the wooden doors slowly opened up to allow a swarm of armor clad humans to come pouring out. Clearly they were to help the two limping humans in the clearing.

It didn't matter how many were present- he would fix Rayla's mistake.


	4. Page 4

Claudia awoke to blinding sunlight, just as she did every morning.

It pierced her eyelids through the window next to her bed, making her nose scrunch up in discomfort and mild annoyance. Momentarily blinded and still drowsy, she turned over onto her side to avoid having to deal with nature's greatest rooster waking her up. She would have quickly fallen asleep too, if not for the knock that came at her door. She groaned face first into her pillow, then reluctantly helped herself out of bed so she could stomp over to the door and open it.

A familiar, young girl with short brown hair and a freckled face stood there in her usual, uncomfortable white gown. "Good morning, _Mistress Claudia_!"

"What's so _good_ about it?" Claudia tried to sound angry that she'd been awakened, but it came off as tired.

"We both actually woke up! _Alive_ , you know."

"Speak for yourself." Claudia reached forward and grasped the gourd in her servant's hands, before flashing a not so good natured grin. "Thanks for the water. I'll take it from here."

"I'll prepare your breakfast then, " The servant started to walk off, but paused in midstep. "Would you like your eggs scrambled or omelet style?"

"Omelet please. _Extra_ mozzarella." Claudia was silent for about another half second. "...Oh,and strawberry milk."

The door closed gently, allowing Claudia to waltz her way to her bedroom mirror without any trouble. She tilted the gourd enough for fresh water to spill into the shallow bowl on her dresser, then proceeded to wash her face with it. It was steaming hot, a stark contrast to the painfully cold water she used to get long ago. Clearly that servant girl knew what she was doing.

She looked up to glare at the next challenge of her morning; bed hair. Her raven black locks were all tangled and poofy, like a nest fit for a hawk or two-but not for long. She gripped a long-toothed comb in one hand and a bristly brush in the other before getting straight to work. With delicate precision, Claudia raked her way through the messy strands with the comb and then brushed over to leave it nice and smooth. Within five minutes, she finally managed to reduce the savage beast on her head to a purring kitten. Well, that's how she likes to describe it.

Without pausing, she opened the first shelf of her dresser to get started on her clothing. She fitted a dark grey stays around her upper torso and tied the laces so that it would fit snugly, not tightly over the shift. Her petticoat was as black as night but as slender as a serpent, easily fitted around her waist with a little maneuvering. After finishing that off with a second, dark purple stays over the first one, Claudia concluded her entire ensemble with a neckercheif settled over her shoulders and tucked in the top portion of her stays. She looked at herself in the mirror.

Yep. Still looking good.

Right on schedule, her servant knocked at the door and revealed a plate of steaming hot eggs, bacon and flapjacks. Claudia nodded in approval of her work and gently took the plate, along with the pink colored milk. "Will that be all for you, Mistress?" The servant smiled.

"For the time being. Thank you, Jane."

The servant started to back up, but ended up being bumped aside by a fast moving figure clad in armor and a hairstyle way ahead of its time. Claudia grinned mischievously when she recognized the figure. "Hey, _Sore-Bear_!"

Her brother kept on walking even after that obvious attempt to annoy him, making her smile fall quickly. She watched hm travel down the hall to meet two soldiers, where they exchanged anxious words that she couldn't quite make out. "Hmm."

"They seem distressed." Jane observed with a frown.

Claudia walked forward. "Astute observation. _BRB_."

* * *

The forest was alive with the sounds of chatter from birds and bugs. It echoed through the tree branches and over the grassy spots that were littered everywhere. The wind carried things both seen and unseen around the many acres of plant life. A K'fea bird glided leisurely in the sun-setted sky, low above the coniferous paradise. The bird, feathers warmly toasted by only half the sun by now, made no sound in her travels over the tops of Padauk trees. The avian surveyed the world below with a literal bird's eye view: seeing that all her neighbors were settling down for the incoming night. East of the bird's left wing, a parade of mammoth paused in the middle of a clearing by their own tusks and each assumed a sleeping position. The head bull was secluded at the 'front' of the herd, and the restless calves were stationed in a circle of mothers. West of her right wing, a Saber-Tusked Grizzly stiffly arranged itself in the branches of a curvaceous tree and ignored the unease it caused in the neighboring monkeys.

Following the bear's move, The K'fea bird selected what appeared to be a good sized tree and angled her wings to lower her down softly. The landing was perfect, albeit slightly shaky from the wind. It ruffled its feathers once, then twice, to prepare for the usual sing song that it yavs on such a bright day. The K'fea bird chirped loudly to join the chorus of voices in the air, the crackling buzz that its tiny mind considered to be harmony. Yes, the beautiful sounds that all meshed together-

" **chUUAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIE**!"

And so, the forest became silent again.

The Indoraptor, pleased with the abrupt end to the noise, plodded slowly to the side of the river. His tail dragged across the ground behind him; a lethargic tube of flesh with no energy as it usually had. The great beast rasped as he lazily blinked down at his reflection in the water, occasionally disrupted by drops of crimson as they fell into the river. Blood soaked nearly his entire head, but none of it belonged to him.

Ah, the attack had been flawless. He still remembered the rush of humans around him, scattering this way and that like a school of frightened fish trying to evade a shark. His claws were swiping this way and that with the speedy precision of a cat, flashing through spines and throats and armor quite easily. He killed and ate his way through the majority of the humans that came out to meet him. The only reason he didn't kill more is because, for the first time in his life-he finally ate his fill.

The humans that once stared down at him behind thick rimmed glasses and emotionless stares had neglected to give him big enough meals. It was always a single fish or a single steak that they tossed for him to eat. He was always underfed-given just barely enough to live to the next day. But today, he was stuffed full of warm organs and flesh that seemed to spread the warmth to each of his limbs. Thusly, he was quite drowsy after the meal and came in search of some place to sleep the rest of the day away.

The Great Black Beast cawed baritone nonsense as he began to lower his muzzle into the water, slurping and drinking his fill of the river before he finally and shook his snout clear of water. He turned away with only a sigh of tiring, crawling a little ways away to a particularly sunny spot amongst some trees. He circled the area twice and finally settled him down into a relaxing position. The drowsy, blood-filled dinosaur was asleep in seconds.

His body blended in with his surroundings in even less time.

* * *

Runaan wasn't worried, exactly. There was no need to be worried about one of their own when they were absent for an extensive time period. He'd made sure that the members of his clan were all incredibly well trained for almost any imaginable situation. Being caught off guard was possible for anyone, but that didn't mean there was any chance of that happening to one of their own so soon. He wasn't worried at all about how long she'd been gone-not one bit. A better term for his state of mind would be...curious.

After all, he'd only dispatched her last night to handle the spies. It shouldn't take long to silence two humans; untrained scum with weak weaponry to defend themselves. He shouldn't be worried about it though-this was Rayla's first kill as a full fledged assassin, so obviously she might be enjoying her first prize. No way whatsoever for her to be any trouble, so there was no need to worry. And he _wasn't_ worried. Just _curious_. That's all that Runaan was. Just curious and…

Rayla stepped out from the cluster of bushes and yawned.

Runaan coughed, stopped tapping his foot nervously and pretended to barely notice her. His eyes did scan her for injuries and marveled at what he could plainly see. Crimson liquid trickled from the blades and dripped from the tips to hit the ground with each footstep of hers. A bit too proud of her accomplishment to keep quiet, Runaan raised his head with a solemn look of respect. "...Well done, Rayla. Well done."

The Elven girl paused in midstep past him, blinking in very brief confusion. She flashed him a somewhat forced grin. "Oh! T-Thanks." She stood in the depths of awkward silence for a moment and swiftly raised her blades to eye level. "...Ah...used _both_ of 'em...?"

Runaan briefly admired the gory blades of hers, before tossing her a damp rag. "Hmm. I can see that….Which technique did you use?"

Rayla was silent, but not for long. "Ah used th' 'Wingspan' technique. Off with th'heads an'...stuff. Bodies'll never be found. Never even made it _close_ to the courtyard."

Hmm. _Wingspan_? That was a little unorthodox for his tastes, but he supposed it was one of the more easy moves and he quickly appreciated that she chose it. "Very good choice."

"You're back." One of the Elves led the rest over to them, holding a hefty clump of cloth pieces in both of her hands as if it were a sacred relic. Rayla could instantly realise that they were sacred. "Now we can begin our oaths."

Rayla glanced at Runaan in surprise, and a slow smile began to appear on her freckled face. "Ah didn't think Ah was ready t'do this jes' yet!"

"Well, you've made your first kills now" Raina remarked with a shrug. "That means you're willing to fight with us. Means you have the heart for it."

"..Y-Yes. M'heart for Xadia."

Rayla nodded and forced herself to wear an equally serious expression. As she placed her weapons aside and walked over to the join the others, she couldn't help but feel the slightest bit guilty about joining their ranks with the oath ceremony. She wished she could find some way to make herself feel that she deserved this. Some way to turn her conscience around on itself. Alas, she felt she was going to be feeling this way throughout the entire chant.

Thank goodness the others couldn't smell the berry juice dripping off the swords.

* * *

Harrow wasn't sure what he was going to see in the Medical center, but this was worse than anything he could have imagined.

To say the entire room was a chaotic, bloody mess would be an understatement. Patients were strewn everywhere, making navigation for the nurses and doctors quite the challenge. Even entering the room was a tough process, as Harrow and Viren had to wait for a trio of men to carry three injured soldiers across the room to empty beds. Some of the soldiers that caught sight of their king tried to get up and kneel, to matter how grave their wounds looked. He quickly gestures for them to not move; he didn't want them to lose their rest just to show him respect. He valued their lives more than their respect at this moment.

Many of the nurses were skilled in the healing arts of dark magic, which they were using to help as many as they could. Harrow saw how their faces tightened when they had to gaze upon glistening intestines and face that were already at death's door. He saw their shaking hands work their magic, coated with far too much blood and how they never stayed with one patient for too long. There weren't enough nurses to help everyone, after all. As much as he wished for that to be a false statement, the kingdom was in short supply of those medically trained.

Harrow remembered Viren was right beside him, looking more sick to his stomach at the mess around them. "...W-when did you hear of this?"

Viren tore himself away from whatever sympathetic thoughts were brewing and frowned. "About a few minutes before I woke you. I am still trying to understand why I was informed so late. I was...studying a mirror when one of the guards rushed in and explained what happened."

Harrow swallowed as surveyed the damage again. "This is unbelievable. One creature did all of... this ."

"I know, " The man agreed sadly. "I've never heard of any beast that can do this to twenty two men all at once."

"...I-I want answers." The King turned to Viren, his expression changing from heartbroken to determined. He caught the attention of a doctor with a nod. "Who is the most likely to speak with me?"

The Doctor lifted his mask to reveal a grim expression. "I know one woman here. I believe she has fewer injuries than the other patients and she is conscious. Follow me."

They followed with curt footsteps, both a little anxious about just who they would see and what they would hear. Harrow exchanged a disheartened glance with Viren when they approached the woman-one he recognized. Her ginger hued hair could have belonged to no other soldier than Gretta . But in the place of her usually serious and devout facial expression when in his presence, the woman now bore a face as pale as snow and the most distant look of horror he'd ever seen. Tales of the front line against the forces of Xadia paled in comparison to the look on her face. Sympathy coiled around his heart and squeezed like a Limiwi python.

The woman didn't look up when he approached, but did when he coughed. Gretta still held pain in her eyes, but they lit up with recognition of the two men. "My King. Sir Viren."

"King Harrow wishes for someone to explain what happened last night, " Viren explained calmly, and occasionally glanced at Harrow. "There are men here who able...but not willing. We are hoping you will be able to shed some light on what happened."

Gretta swallowed once, shuddered through her nose and preferred that her eyes remained down at her lap. Harrow and Viren waited patiently beside each other, and were finally given words from her. "...It was dark last night….when Marcos and I returned from the Eastern forefront. We were traveling down the usual road to get back into the courtyard when sounds alerted us. We'd been...set upon by-"

"The beast?" Harrow finished hesitantly.

"No...M-Moon Shadow Elves."

A portion of the room went silent, and Harrow registered that Viren's grip tightened on his staff. The King himself might have flinched at hearing the name; borrowing his brow in surprise. That name was given to the army of cutthroats who were famous for their danger in combat. Survivors from front battles told cautionary tales about their might. To hear that a group of them were somewhere in the bordering forest...was dreadful. Nevertheless, he listened again when she continued to talk uncomfortably.

"T-They sent one of their own to kill us, since we'd seen them in the dark. We were...cornered, but...the elf didn't kill either of us." Gretta couldn't help sounding confused at that, even when her trembling voice was the result of residual fear. "It h-had the blades at his throat, but it didn't kill Marcos. We didn't know why, but we ran away as fast as we could. Marcos managed to light a flare to get the attention of the gatekeeper…"

Gretta turned green, just the slightest bit, before her eyes shut tightly. "...T-The dragon...a-ate his h...h-head."

Another portion of the room ceased their ambience, and another cold weight settled upon everyone. Viren met a similarly grace expression on Harrow's face and neither said anything. A Dragon; a beast born of flame that ironically brought others to death in the same manner. Towering giants whose teeth were swords, and their claws were spears. Even the lesser known dragons, cousins to the long dead King, were legendary for their ability to create hurricanes by their wings alone.

And one was just outside the kingdom.

"I...I-I was knocked aside and only...w-woke up here, My king." Gretta sniffled and forced herself to keep going. Even when Harrow subconsciously wanted to her to stop reliving the horror. "But I can...can still remember the last sight that I had. The men rushing out... its size...its bloody teeth...its scales, black as oil...it eyes . Like it s-stole Satan's eyes and used them as its own."

"...This is no coincidence." Viren finally settled, and tapped the crystal edge of his staff. "No. Moonshadow Elves and Dragons all in one night? No...they are in league ."

If there was any reason to doubt his words, Harrow would have. But he knew in his heart that it made all too much sense; Elves and Dragons all originated from the forbidden lands of Xadia and nowhere else. There was no way a pack of assassins and a bloodthirsty dragon would attack one after the other in mere coincidence. Gretta and Marcos were spared just so the beast could have its meals. And it did, according to the high body count. The very thought made him angry, but also afraid. What if the Elves were planning to attack the castle, let the dragon devour him and his children. He-no!

He would not let his children die at their hands. He would prepare.

King Harrow folded his arms behind his back as he faced Viren. He appreciated the respectful nod Viren gave to him. "Gather a small army. No less than sixty men. Send them on a patrol through the forest and bring me evidence of these assassins. If they encounter the dragon, they are to retreat back here."

"I have ways of locating them quickly, My King. They will not fail to find the assassins." Viren explained dutifully. "What shall you do?"

King Harrow turned away with a grim frown. "I have much to consider...and very little time."

* * *

Rayla admired the band around her wrist.

It wasn't loose, but it wasn't right either. It looked like any ordinary cloth, but didn't tear when she tugged it on a certain way. She hummed as she examined the Elven markings on the side of it. They had been glowing when the cloth wrapped around her wrist and broke off from the others. Even without the glow, she could see still make out the words inscribed in ancient black fluid. _Heart_.

Her heart for Xadia.

Rayla sighed, and she wished she didn't know why she sighed. But it was all too easy to remember the trick she'd played on everyone by coming back to them with her blades soaked in berry juice. None had been the wiser but her, and that didn't make her feel proud at all. A part of her knew that if she didn't hesitate to kill the humans, she would have felt a sincere sense of pride. If she had the heart to do it, then-

 _No, Ah have th'heart. M'heart for Xadia ._ She glared to herself, to cease her bathing thoughts. _Ah'll be ready th'next time. Ah have to_.

All thoughts seemed to vanish when a butterfly began to circle her head, and her eyes quickly followed it. The butterfly was fairly large and light blue, with black markings to accentuate the color of its wings. She marveled as it landed on her shoulder and flexed its wings, created the slightest wafts of air against the Elf. She'd never seen this kind of insect before-not one so mall. She was used to the memory of riding giant beetles as a little Elflet. The smallest by she'd ever seen aside from this butterfly was a Pygmy Mantis, which was known for its ability to-

Rayla gave a sharp shriek of surprise when Runaan suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth and actually dragged her over to the shade of a few surrounding trees. As she struggled to pry his hand off and give him a piece of her mind, she noticed that the other Elves were also statined beneath the tree, shrouded in shadows and looking strangely tense. Runaan gave some sort of signal to one of his subordinates, and she quickly doused everyone in a cloaking spell.

Rayla's struggles diminished a little, but only because there was clearly something she wasn't getting here. She started out at the clearing for any signs of danger, anything past the fluttering butterfly. She hoped it wasn't that weird dragon again. Things were going too good for her to be troubled by it.

While the threat did not appear in the form of a creepy black demon, the actual thing was just as shocking. A parade of armor clad bodies marched their way through the camp grounds, with helmets housing angry looking eyes that scanned everywhere. The Elf girl fought to contain her gasp as the army slowed in the middle of the clearing, unaware of the hidden enemy but still wary. One of them stared at the butterfly with a radiating aura of impatience.

"Soren, why are we wasting our time following this bug?" He growled aloud. "A clan of filthy murderers are somewhere in this forest, and we're _literally_ chasing butterflies!"

"My dad...Viren said this butterfly would lead us right to the Elves." Another human spoke up, sounding younger than the other. "Perhaps it's led us to a place they've been."

"This doesn't look like the road Gretta would walk through with Marcos. She told us it was the road from the North front." Yet another one spoke up. "If they were here, they've been long gone."

Soren, as he was called, spoke up quickly. "Well, men. They aren't the only thing we're after. We need safe visual of The Dragon, to report back to Viren and King Harrow."

The skeptical man huffed in agreement. "Yeah. Let's find that Dragon. First chance they give me, I'll be wearing a necklace of Elf eyeballs and Dragon teeth. See if he can eat our men then!"

The men all agreed angrily yet definitely. They shuffled along past the butterfly and made their way through a section of close together trees, creating no noise except for the intimidating clink of metal armor. Rayla felt uneasy as the last one to leave sneered at the campsite before disappearing after his comrades. She joined her Elves as they cautiously crept out minutes after and stared at the space the humans had once been in. Swallowing, Rayla glanced at Runaan. "They were trackin' us with a Butterfly."

Runaan nodded. "Some of their insects can be attuned to...threats."

"This is not good." One of the Elves grimaced. "Had we not seen them coming, our plan would have been over before it started."

Raina gave a glum sigh, and adjusted the straps of her sack. "Do you think we should move to a new campsite, Runaan?"

Every eye turned to their leader for an answer, though he seemed to be thinking about just how to respond. Rayla opened her mouth, perhaps to say something encouraging, but was interrupted by another member. "Wait. Those humans mentioned Marcos and Gretta. That seems familiar, doesn't it?"

Raina nodded slowly. "Actually yes. Those are the names of the humans we saw last. Or, at least the woman was named Gretta."

The Elf nodded. "That's what I thought. Strange: how a corpse can talk, isn't it Rayla?"

Oh boy.

Rayla swallowed as all eyes slowly turned to her, but she didn't dare to take a step back. She racked her mind for anything to diffuse the crumbling situation, and soon became desperate enough to spout whatever came to mind. "Pfft. Th'humans were probably lying. They kinda implied that th' dragon killed the lot of 'em anyway, so-"

"You, " Runaan narrowed his eyes. "let the dragon kill them?! You lied to us?!"

"No, Ah never let th' stupid thing do anehthing! Ah d'nae know it was there to begin with, " Rayla shrank a little, wringing her hands nervously. Oh why didn't she have the guts to do it? Why did that dragon to pop up now of all times?! "Look, A-Ah'm sorry! I had th' blades at his throat but...Ah couldn't! Ah saw the fear'n his eyes an' Ah jes'-"

"Saw the fear in his eyes?!" One of the Elves sneered. "You are pathetic!"

Runaan growled, voice dripping with dissappointment. "Of course he was afraid, Rayla! That doesn't dismiss the fact that you had a job to do! Instead you let the Dragon do your job for you; too late to stop them from alerting the kingdom! A mere beast had more will than you, Rayla."

"...B-But they did'n do anehthing to me!" She tried to explain with feeble, failing words. "How could Ah jes' take their lives?!"

"You let _them_ live, but _you've killed us all_!"

Rayla's silent, ashamed face was small against their scornful glares.


	5. Chapter Two: Flames & Moon

There were many times in Callum's life that he didn't know what to do. The earliest memory of that was when he was first introduced to his new stepfather as a young boy, uncertain of how to open himself to this powerful head of a kingdom if he wasn't really his father. As the years passed, there was no shortage of things that left Callum uncertain. He was uncertain about political studies and lessons. He was uncertain about fighting with swords and weapons. He was uncertain about how to constantly be a good role model to his ever-growing little brother. He was uncertain as to why his pet, Bait, was always so grumpy all the time. But this time, it was different.

His uncertainty was stronger here, more painful. It twisted his stomach up in a tangled knot and refused to let him have a calm breath. He felt sick, cold, hot and weak all at once. And yet, he felt this twice over because of two different conversations.

The first involved himself and his little brother, both called to the throne room for a less than stellar conversation. As the day's first shocker, his stepfather revealed that there was a camp of very deadly Elven assassins somewhere in the forest vicinity around the kingdom, with the likely intent of coming for the ruler. In any case, his stepfather wished to send them to an old summer retreat far from the kingdom, a very large building where their Aunt Amaya (The leading General of a very great army) would be waiting for their arrival. From there, she would be keeping a vigilant watch over them until The King confirmed it was safe for a return. His little brother was less than ecstatic about the whole thing, but he had no choice in the matter. The second conversation consisted of just Callum and The King, as Ezran was busy with other devices.

His stepfather apparently kept information from him earlier, since his little brother was present and didn't need to be worried about such things. The Elven assassins were not just any assassins, but ones of the Moonshadow clan. That clan, of all the others, had a fearsome reputation for never failing in their plans and leaving many kingdoms without a ruler. As if that wasn't enough of a problem in itself, there was undeniable evidence that they were in possession of a very dangerous dragon-the reason for all the commotion in the castle as of late, and the reason why sword fighting lessons took place on castle grounds (It was certainly weird at the time, how neither Claudia nor Soren were in their best of spirits today.) The King was telling Callum this in secrecy because he knew that it was very likely he would soon be dead. He wanted to remind Callum once more to take care of his brother and know that he loved them both dearly.

Callum had agreed but tried to reassure his ill-fated father that he would still be alive when this was all over. His stepfather only averted his eyes sadly.

Thus was the reason for his painful uncertainty; the very real prospect that this day might be the last time he ever saw his stepfather, the king he had come to regard as his real father. It wasn't a future that Callum was ready to see to; a world where neither a father nor mother existed. And how would he tell his brother these things, if it ever came to it? Yes, if. There wouldn't even be an if scenario. Callum had to remind himself of his own optimism, everything would work just fine with no problems. All it would take was some time, and he would see.

Callum sighed pitifully.

* * *

Runaan kept his balance without even focusing too hard, his feet rooted carefully on the tree branch. The trained assassin was completely silent and without breath, as was the elf stationed beside him. Their eyes were not on each other, but rather the parading bands of human soldiers traveling this way and that in the forest, their metal armor clinging and clanging like the bells of death. Their javelins were held readily at their sides and their swords were close enough to be drawn in milliseconds. At the very front of the massive group was a soldier that didn't look any older than a boy; likely the son of a general or high ranking officer in the kingdom. Young as he was, he was certainly not inexperienced and wasn't leaving any rocks unturned. Had they not spotted the butterfly, Runaan's operation would have been destroyed before it started.

As their enemies marched out of their line of sight and into the far distance, the elf with Runaan raised his hands to silently speak with him, fingers moving into different signals. They'll be on the lookout for us now. We will have to act tonight if we want to have any chance of successfully completing the mission. The five of us should be able to get in easily.

Runaan swallowed, hesitated and raised his own hands. Five of us will not be enough. We need all six in this effort.

The Elf narrowed his eyes. We'll be stronger as five.

I would never leave someone behind based on a mistake, It's-

The Elf scoffed and shook his head as he raised his hands. She couldn't kill one lowly guard herself. Suppose fate lines her blades with the King's neck. You really think she'll do it?

Runaan stood from the branch in frustration, eyes narrowing at the ground. He couldn't say that Rayla's failure didn't heavily disappoint him-he expected the most out of that girl, trained her to be apart of this team with hopes that she would one day be the best of them all. Yet, when things came to be confrontational, Rayla just didn't have it in her. His company was right even if he didn't want to admit it. Rayla being with them on the mission would either lead to failure or her demise because of hesitation. He glanced in the direction of the Elf and finally spoke. "Let's get back to camp. The humans are heading back to the castle."

The Elf stood, but he stated. "Now might be a good time to find that dragon. It's a threat to them, given how many forces they sent to hunt it too. Not to mention it is a master of stealth if they haven't found it."

Runaan frowned deeply. "...This dragon. It is very different from the others." When his company sent him a confused look, he elaborated. "I've seen it sometimes, I'll admit. I expect a dragon to be watching us at all times, either for protection or just to deem us as a threat in its territory. And at first, I thought it was watching us. All of us."

The Elf raised an eyebrow. "I don't quite follow."

"The Dragon isn't watching all of us, as I suspected. Whenever he follows us around the forest, he follows only one of our footprints, " Runaan said. "I cannot imagine why, but This Dragon has a very...unusual fixation on Rayla."

"Hunger?"

"...No. Obsession."

* * *

It was about half an hour from sunset when the Indoraptor awoke from sleep, and the first thing on his intelligent mind was Rayla.

" **Grahk**."

He snorted as he rose to his feet and blinked the remaining sleep from his eyes, inhaling the dried blood still stuck to his teeth. He allowed his tongue to first clean those spaces in his gums and then flicker in the air to catch her taste. A cruel grin curled the corners of his jaws when he located that desirable aroma-the ambrosia he had yet to devour. He couldn't help but prance in her direction with a wider smile; a proud puff in his chest. Rayla would be quite pleased with his help in last night's efforts, especially with her mistake erased permanently. If he allowed her to live long enough, perhaps she would follow in his footsteps and properly kill a human when the time came again. The beast happily pounced over logs and massive boulders, trodded through the small swamps, hissed at an agitated Dire crocodile and finally happened upon the location of his prey. Turning invisible again without ever quite noticing, the dragon crawled forward to peek from the safety of some tall bushes, his belly laying flat against the grassy ground. The Non-humans were sitting about in a scattered yet close array, busy sharpening weapons or replenishing their supplies with items retrieved from the forest around them. After a moment of eager searching, he found Rayla sitting a little ways away from them in a rather somber state. While he didn't care about her emotions, he found it surprising to see her looking guilty given that she was usually in a casual state all the time. He wondered what unfolded during his absence.

Rayla was trying not to seem down by retrieving her blades and inspecting them closely, holding parts of it between her fingers. She looked in the direction of the non-human closest to her. "Heeeeey, could Ah borrow y'sharpener thingie?"

The Non-human, who was possibly named Rand but the Indoraptor couldn't be sure, sneered at her. "...What?"

"You know, th'... thing that you sharpen your ax with!"

"Whetstone."

"Yeah, tha-"

"No."

The Indoraptor wished he could understand a word they were saying, not that he even knew what a word was to begin with. Behind the sneering one, The Non-human that called herself Raina reluctantly tossed Rayla a whetstone and went back to doing what she was doing. "Rand, it was a simple whetstone."

Another Non-human from a farther distance spoke up."I'll bet the dragon doesn't need to sharpen his claws. Don't y'think so, Rayla?"

Rayla sharpened her blade in pregnant silence, an action that the Indoraptor hadn't seen before. Now he really wished he could understand what they were saying. The Non-human continued to talk, visibly angry about something. "What are you even sharpening your blade for? We all know you wouldn't kill a fly, let alone human scum!"

Raina turned his direction. "That's enou-"

"Ah, I'm jes' saying. She'll grow feelings for the little thing at the last second. " While Rayla scraped harder at her own blade, her fingers tightening more and more, The Indoraptor watched the Non-human continued to snarl in her direction. "Hmmph. Cowardice and Dragons. Your family seems a long history with that, huh Ray-"

" _Shut up!"_

Even the Indoraptor flinched back from that outburst. He missed it in the split millisecond that it, but now Rayla was on her feet and pointing one of her blades in the direction of the non-human that spoke. While her face looked like she was ready to engage in a bloody fight with her pack member, the non-human that spoke didn't seem the least bit phased by her sudden bark. Rayla narrowed her eyes at him. " Ah don't care what the lotta ya think of me. But if _y'ever_ compare me to them again-"

"You'll kill me?" The Non-human said. "You've already betrayed us. Killing us isn't far off either."

"What's going on here?"

From the tree line behind the non-human, Runaan emerged with a stern scowl set upon his features. The heated match died almost instantly, with both the non-human and Rayla refusing to look in Runaan's direction. The leader of their clan eyed them both for what felt like hours before his gaze rested upon Rayla. He walked up to her, then past her to the other end of the tree line. "Come with me. We have things to discuss."

When Rayla followed him after a long moment of hesitation and clear worry, The Indoraptor cast one last glance at the non-human remaining and carefully crept after the two that were leaving. His jaws salivated as he caught glimpses of Rayla between bush branches and leaves; so thin that her bones would crush like twigs beneath the might of his teeth. Her sweet blood would stain the earth, only for him to lap it all up later. The malevolent dinosaur followed them for several paces, occasionally having to carefully step over a twig or avoid tripping on a rock. The duo he followed suspected nothing, but it was likely because they were wrapped in their own clearly disordered zeal. He didn't want to care, but when you hunted someone for as long as he did, you could get curious about the social habits of your prey. More than ever, the so-called dragon was frustrated with not being able to understand the need for social actions in any creature, let alone the more advanced languages of these Non-humans or human-humans. The Indoraptor didn't understand packs or families-he only had to accept that they existed even in nature and since he had no others like him, he could never understand their needs.

And why should he need to? He needed no knowledge and the frustrations that came with that knowledge-he just needed to eat and survive until the next day. He didn't get as far as he had now-surviving life in a cage, being impaled on a skeleton and going through so many internal/external changes-depending on someone else. In his earliest memories, the Indoraptor could recall the other, the one that looked like him but white as the laboratory walls. He could recall his hostile brother as a bloodthirsty monster, a creature that wanted nothing more than to kill this quivering black thing it shared a cage with. The Indoraptor could not have socialized with that thing, could not have spared its life as Rayla had. The Indoraptor could only fight when on the brink of death and slice the throat of the other, and he was not rewarded for his impressive feats. Those humans in their white coats only stared; some in horror and others in studying boredom. Had they fed him more, had they been the parents he first thought to be...perhaps he would think like Rayla.

Any more self-questioning emotions the Indoraptor felt would have to wait, for the journey was nearing an end. The Non-human named Runaan didn't look back as he slowed down, but he still spoke anyway. "I thought you could do it, Rayla... but I see now that I was wrong."

"You're not wrong. Y'just-..." Rayla grimaced deeply. "You just need to let m'show you. Ah can do it."

Runaan stopped slowly, turning towards her with a frown just as prominent. "I know you've never taken before. Everyone else has had the experience of taking someone's life, but I didn't care then." He explained. "I brought you with us because you're very talented. I even think you're the fastest and strongest of any of us...and you have such great determination. I was stupid to think that it didn't take more than that."

Rayla looked as though she wanted to be anywhere other than here, and Runaan wasn't too far off in that. "The Dragon-All dragons...have an instinct to them during a hunt. Once they find their target, there is very, very little that will deter them. Out of the few things that can deter them, their own emotions are not one of them. There's a moment when one finds their prey; A single moment of truth...And in that moment...you hesitate."

Rayla narrowed her eyes and nodded once. "Ah get it. Ah do. Ah won' hesitate again."

"You will. Don't think I haven't seen this in others before. Others as young as you." The older Non-human explained, begrudging."I see now that you're still just a child. The others and I? We would have silenced those humans easily. The things they've done to Xadia-to the king...it is unforgivable. It's what drives our hearts to hardness. But your heart just isn't hard enough to do whatever it takes!"

"Look, Ah know! Ah know Ah messed up." Rayla glared as she responded desperately. The Indoraptor drooled; he could imagine her screams being desperate as his jaws closed around her head." Because Ah let that human go, we're all in danger. But that's why you have to let me make it right! Ah have to fix my mistakes-"

"No! This is one mistake you will not be able to fix! That is final!"

Rayla's glare was withering fast. "But ah _bound_ myself! Mah heart for-"

She was attempting to show him that strange-looking band tied to her wrist, but Runaan caught it before it could even come close to him. He shoved her hand back down to her side and narrowed his eyes. "You, " He said harshly. "will be unbound when the job is done. Your role now is to stay out of the way and beg for favor."

"Favor?! From you?" She asked angrily.

"No. From the dragon."

It wasn't hard to miss the way, for just a few seconds, Rayla's scrumptious blood ran cold. She stumbled for words, and when she finally discovered them, they were shaky and nervous. "W-What are y'talking about?"

"I never said so earlier, but I've been noticing a fair amount of tracks following your footprints specifically. The dragon has been stalking you for quite some time. Who knows how much time will be left before he does something undesirable to you?" Runaan started past her with a sympathetic frown. "I told you before to apologize to it. "

Rayla nervously towards him. "It's not easy to find! I don't even know how you discovered tracks! And why should even go looking for it?! That...whatever it is stalking me is the one that's got so many guards patrolling!"

Runaan continued to walk away. "You will find the beast and make peace with it. If we're not back by sunrise, go home. If you are unable to make peace with it, go home. Fighting it alone is suicide."

And then, a short time later, he was gone. The realization came so quickly that the dinosaur's mind took time to catch it. The moment had finally come; the moment that had taken days upon days to reach! Rayla was finally left alone, with no other sentient signs of aid nearby. The Indoraptor smirked with glee and sensed that Runaan was traveling further and further away from her-far enough away to be out of earshot even if Rayla were to scream...which she would. The dinosaur readied his hind legs for a pounce, shimmied his shoulders in anticipation. His non-human prey was completely unaware of the danger that would soon befall her, sitting on the large boulder nearby with her back to the beast. He drooled excessively as she gave a depressed sigh about whatever social issues she appeared to be suffering; he would end that suffering soon. He just needed to creep a little closer to be within pouncing range.

Rayla looked up slowly, staring at something in the distance. Despite his eager excitement, his eyes flicked to what she was looking at in the horizon. As the sun slowly set upon this new world, it cast a brilliant orange glow upon that giant human house thing; the one that sent out so many metal-clad humans to their deaths at his claws. Rayla's shoulders suddenly straightened, her posture suddenly seemed stubbornly determined.

"Ah can fix this, " She breathed.

The Indoraptor could not stop himself from snarling in frustration when she ran forward, leaping from tree branch to tree branch on a one way trip to the giant human dwelling. He did not wait all this time, watch for so many days and nights, just for her to go running off before he could lunge. The Indoraptor snarled all the more as he raced after her and never broke his eye contact with her fleeing form. His own Ebony body melted into nothing as his camouflage turned him into an invisible force of death and hunger.

He was going to eat her, and he was going to eat her _now_.

* * *

She finally reached the side of the castle...or more accurately, she finally reached the river in front of the cliffside connecting to the edge of the castle. She had to admit that it was...far taller than it looked at a distance, and it looked pretty tall from far off. She idly whistled as she scanned it up and down, before letting her eyes fall to the wide river that separated her from fixing her mistakes. The Elf girl took a few careful steps back and rushed forward across the bank, pouncing off from her toes to zip through the air. There was a strange swish of air behind her as if something had tried to swipe at her, but a mid-air glance behind her revealed nothing. She must have imagined it.

She made the jump. After rolling to a controlled halt, Rayla unsheathed her curved swords and got to work stabbing them into the tough stone cliff edge. It was a quickly tiring task, trying to unhook and re-hook her blades to gradually climb up. Even for an elf that trained most of her life to be one of the world's best assassins, she found her arm muscles shaking when she reached sixty feet above the ground. She knew a fall from this height would either be a quick yet painful death or a broken mess for someone to find later.

 _Stop et, Rayla. Ah, can' hesitate again!_ She stopped for a wheezing breath, chest rising and falling slowly. _Jes' breathe, get your focus 'n check and-_

Rayla never gave much thought to anyone who might be seeing or otherwise following her. She flinched when something loud snapped at her dangling foot, drawing in her legs as she looked down. Her face became twisted with a mixture of fear and surprised anger at who appeared to be trailing not far beneath her. The massive black shape, with that yellow mottled streak and eyes of death.

"NO! You again?!" She half growled, half whimpered. "Yer th'reason Ah'm in this mess! Why can't y'jes leave m _'lone?!_ "

The bastard of a dragon kept silent as usual, save for a few dancing growls from his drooling maw. She didn't know how long he'd been following her, but he'd apparently used his claws to make up for the lack of wings. The sharp tips were casually stabbed into the tough rock, and his far superior muscles allowed him to climb without as much fatigue as Rayla. He was close enough to attempt another rookie bite of her foot and gaining fast. Rayla didn't fancy coming all this way to be eaten off the side of a cliff or perhaps thrown to the ground and then eaten.

She climbed as fast as her trim arms could take her, stabbing in and pulling out much faster than usual to get to higher ground. Her arms screamed for more rest, but her frantic brain demanded more work. The Beast below didn't seem the least bit fatigued by the climb, just insanely eager for the prize that was clearly getting tired. When the dragon made to snap at her heels again, she landed a perfect kick to the tip of its snout that made it bark in mild alarm. She wasn't easily deterred by the angry hiss thrown up at her; in fact, she glared down at the stupid, annoying beast and hissed right back. Under any other circumstances, she might have appreciated the brief look of shock on the dragon's face.

She was about twenty feet away from the top edge of the castle wall when the black beast surprised her with a sudden leap upwards, jaws outstretched at a sideways angle. On instinct, Rayla did a strained split and just barely managed to stop the jaws from clamping on her by placing a boot on the roof and bottom of his maw. Her hands were still occupied with her swords in the stone, and his hands were in a similar position. Despite the clear strength his jaws had, her quivering legs were apparently just strong enough to keep his teeth from getting any closer. They were at an impasse.

" **Gughaaaaassssssssss** , " The thing hissed angrily. " ** _Sssssssah_**."

She didn't know how much longer her legs would be able to hold out, but she angrily snarled down at her attacker anyway. "Speak _English_ , Ya overgrown Needle Newt!" Rayla resisted the urge to vomit as his long soaking tongue rose with a growl of hunger, circling her waist to try and pull her down. "Ewwwwww! Let go of me ya fire breathin' worm!"

Wiggling did nothing to loosen the tongue's snakish grip on her, so she opted for a very quick yet risky move. She wrestled one of her blades free and dragged it up the side of his tongue while relinquishing her split. The Dragon shrieked with pain and removed one hand from the stone wall to feebly clutch at it's hurt tongue. Seizing the moment, Rayla swung just low enough to swing her blade at the only hand remaining. While her blade didn't cut through anything, it did enough to break his hold on the building. The massive beast scrambled uselessly in a brief attempt to regain its hold before it plummeted back down to the ground kicking and screaming bloody murder.

Rayla grinned at it's falling form. "See ya, _sucker_."

The Elf girl climbed the rest of the way of confidently, her body swinging itself over the roof edge so that she could collapse on her back and catch her breath. She was sweaty, still bristling with adrenaline and all, but she was extremely proud of herself. She actually beat that stupid beast! If she had any doubts about herself before thanks to Runaan, then she definitely lost that doubt now. She closed her eyes in content and sighed as her muscles slowly lost the pain they'd gained performing that feat. It wasn't until a wet nose prodded her forehead that she flinched and shot up into a defensive position.

A goat bleated at her, chewing on grass very slowly.

Rayla blinked once and it did the same. She laughed when she noticed the other goats and then the one she had apparently fallen into. It made sense for the castle to have elevated farms so that trips to the town would not be so frequent. She stood up completely to her feet and noticed the exit to the one off to the right. After taking a moment to listen for soldiers or any other humans, she waded through the sea of goats apologetically. If she was quick and silent, she could find the king's heir and complete one half of the team's task. By the time Runaan came for the heir, he would be impressed to find that she had already completed that task! She could go back home to Xadia a hero, someone who wasn't marked by the past of her own family.

Rayla cleared those thoughts out of her head as she escaped the goat pen, turning sarcastically to the bearded animals. "Take of yourselves guys, "

"Baa, " The first goat she saw said.

The goat watched as she walked completely out of sight before it promptly forgot all about the strange intended and went back to eating its food with the others. It wasn't very long before a rhythmic scrabbling sound came up the side of the castle wall again That particular goat wandered back over in interest just as another newcomer perched itself on the roof edge. The goat blinked at those large red eyes, nothing like the previous stranger. "Baa-a!"

"... **Baa-a!** "


	6. Page 6

A sigh tore it's way past her lips. Nothing of help to her, just as the last four books were. Claudia shook her head as she closed the heavy book, scoffing under her breath. "This one wasn't helpful either. Jane, try and find me more books that don't have listings of Soul-Swapping Snakes as savory solutions."

Jane nodded dutifully, taking the heavy book and adding it to the already heavy load of books in her arms. "Right away, Mistress."

Her servant was off then, proceeding with her dutiful task. While Claudia waited for another book, she glanced at the nearest window for a good estimate at what the time was. The sun would disappear soon; time was running short for the King. There was no guarantee that an attack would come tonight, but a solution had to be found as soon as possible. Or at least, a solution aside from the one Dad thought up. Much of the kingdom's future rested in an uncertain future. Her thoughts were interrupted by armor clicking and rattling, with only one individual in mind who could be interrupting. She glanced up as her brother walked into the room with his bulky armor and silly cape billowing.

"Ha! I knew I would find you here! In the Bookworm's _natural_ habitat!" He grinned mischievously, and Claudia couldn't resist the urge to stick her tongue out at him. Still, the grin on his face faltered just slightly; clearly meaning there was something serious about his visit. "Well, as much as I'd love to leave you to drown in all these...pictureless books-"

"There's more to life than _picture books_ , Soren." She rolled her eyes.

"-you will, unfortunately, have to vacate the premises!" Soren finished, gesturing to the doorway he just entered from. " _Dad's_ orders. We got a ' safety curfew' or whatever that is."

"I'm helping dad with something. I can't leave until I've found an alternative solution." Claudia turned as Jane returned to her, but with nothing to show for her efforts. She didn't even need to ask her servant to know that no other book in the entire castle was going to be of any help to her. "Which is apparently going to be taking a longer time than I thought."

"My apologies, Mistress." Jane apologized, and before Claudia could reassure her that it wasn't her fault for the lack of knowledge, she nodded in the direction of Soren. "A good evening to you, Master Soren."

Soren flashed her an impressively cheeky grin, even for him. "Hey, Jane. It is a good evening, but not as good as you _look~_."

While Jane seemed mildly confused, Claudia pinched the bridge of her nose and snorted a laugh. "Ugh, Please stop. I've eaten _enough_ cheese today."

Huffing to hide his flustering, the young General approached Claudia's right while Jane remained on the left, leaning himself on the wall. "What are you talking about anyway, alternative solutions? Wait." He snapped his fingers, an impressive feat since he was wearing a gauntlet. "Are you looking for cool protection spells to cast? Make a giant shield around the whole castle!"

Claudia gave him a deadpan stare, her lips pursing. "Jane, tell him why I'm _not_ doing _that_."

"Yes, Mistress," Jane responded dutifully, then took a moment to think. "Firstly, it would take a very sufficient amount of life force or energy to create a shield of such an amazing size, and even then, there's no guarantee that it would stay up long enough or be strong enough to hold against attacks. Secondly, even if it were able to stand the test of time and attacks from enemies, anyone like sellers or knights would never be able to re-enter the castle. And thirdly, Mistress Claudia is _not_ looking for a spell to protect the castle itself."

Soren slowly nodded after processing all the information, dodging the still deadpan look of his sister. But he suddenly perked up, jabbing a finger in her face. "Hey! Wait a sec-If you're not doing that, then…?!"

Claudia gently pushed his hand away. "Well, I was looking for an alternative solution to helping the King. Dad said he proposed the idea of using the _Soulfang_ serpent to save the king. Essentially, it would have swapped his soul with that of a soldier, keeping the king alive through someone else."

Her brother nodded. "That sounds perfect."

"Not to the King. As easy as it all is, he doesn't want to use dark magic of any kind to get himself out of this situation. And he especially doesn't want to trade lives."

"Well, that's stupid! We have loyal soldiers, and he's an important figure. It's an easy ticket out."

"Well, I can at least understand where The King is coming from," Claudia admitted with a soft sigh. "Someone dying in his place would mean him having to personally tell their family that they sacrificed themselves and now he's inhabiting the body of their loved ones. Can you imagine how awkward and sad it would be if the King chose you and then I just have this middle-aged man for a teenage brother?"

"Hmm. Yeah, that would be pretty weird."

"Then you understand his problem. I'm just trying to find something more to his liking before it's too late."

A horn, or rather two, sounded through the open window. The two sharp bursts of sound seemed to instantly register with Soren, for the young General stiffened and gave the general impression of a deer in headlights. Claudia exchanged glances with her servant and then looked at her brother quizzically. "Uh, Sore-bear? What was that just now?"

Soren swallowed unsteadily. "That? Uh, one horn sound from the Guard Watch is supposed to signal an Elf sighting within the castle. I did _not_ expect two horns."

Claudia winced. "What does _two_ mean…?"

"That, uh, means that dragon is somewhere in the castle right now."

* * *

Callum wasn't sure where Ezran was.

Well, he could at least guess what had caused him to disappear at random when he went looking for his younger brother. He should have guessed that the conversation of having to leave their father to the threat of Assassins wasn't going to make it easy for them to depart. Callum himself wasn't ready to leave, but he was old enough to accept that such a thing could happen at any moment. It was the one reason that Callum was searching for him, regardless of his desire to leave or not. The young teen searched most of the north end of the castle after checking both their rooms for any signs of him or his curious little pet; Bait.

Of course, he didn't find either of them-he knew that the younger prince was very clever about how he moved around the castle. There were secret passageways in the walls that the boy liked to use to travel in secret, oftentimes after stealing sweets from the bakery. Callum didn't feel like actually finding out which painting was secretly a door inside the walls and, even if he did know, he detested the thought of having to fight his way through cobwebs and thoughts of creepy ghosts. Just because he was the big brother didn't mean he couldn't be against spiders or spirits with unfinished business.

As he traveled down a long stretch of a hallway, Callum heard the faintest of horn noises. _Two_ of them, to be precise, seemingly from somewhere outside the castle. He didn't know quite what two horn sounds meant, but he did recognize another obvious sound right after: footsteps. Tiny creaks right behind him that could only have belonged to a small boy. Callum smirked as he slowed to a halt.

"Ez, " He snorted as he turned. "We _both_ know you can't sneak up on m-"

Callum's words died in his throat.

"Y'sure? Sneaking up on ye seems _pretty_ easy t'me."

As much as Callum had heard of them or seen them in books on Xadian life, he'd hoped he'd actually never have to see a real Elf in-person-knowing full well how dangerous they could be and how much they despised the human race. But as both luck and life itself would have it, today would be Callum's first encounter with an Elf. A Moonshadow Elf, a female with her hood drawn up over her forehead and twin swords unsheathed in each hand. His heart skipped a beat in a strange mixture of fear and admiration. Yes, she was definitely here to kill someone that could very well be him, but there was something different he instantly noticed that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Perhaps it was her being alone, with no sign of backup with her. Perhaps it was the stories he'd been told about bloodthirsty Elven assassins and the fact that she looked pretty good for a cold-blooded killer. With her freckles spanning her cocky grin and her green/black suit designed so fantastically, it was difficult for part of him to actually associate with the monsters told to him in legends.

Callum stammered, nearly stumbling back several paces. "You...Y-You're not him, You're...you're one of _those_ , with the pointy…"

The Elf raised an eyebrow at him, her pretty smile faltering something in between a grin and an insulted grimace. "Oh, y'don't like m' _ears_?"

Callum's eyes watched her hands twirling the sword handles briefly, incidentally earning one step backward for himself. "W-Well, it's not so much the ears so much as the...p-pointy _swords_ you have."

She swiftly raised on the aforementioned weapons, pointing it in his general direction as her smile left completely, replaced by something more serious. "Tha's far enough, human. Ye might actually live t'get through this night if ye answer m'questions." She frowned. "Ah'm looking fer someone."

At first, Callum panicked internally, not sure what to do to escape this deadly situation. But when his peripheral vision fell upon the massive tapestries beside them, he managed to form half a plan to save himself. "Well, did you check all the secret passageways in the walls? I know there's one right around _HERE_!"

The Elf certainly didn't expect anything like him yanking the tapestry down and over her, blinding and trapping her all in the same move. She yelped an Elfish word that he was certain wouldn't be nice if translated to English. Callum instantly sprinted his way down the hall-he had to find the nearest part of the castle that would have Guards at the ready! It would obviously be better to reach someone who _knew_ how to fight rather than try and run endlessly from a murderer in green.

Behind him, he could already hear the unmistakable sound of blades tearing through fabric.

* * *

Oh, that fast-footed _Vafer_.

Rayla, having finished shredding her way out from under the unbelievably heavy tapestry, chased that human trickster with renewed energy. While it was a bit of a sharp detour to what she'd originally wanted to happen, the Elven girl could afford a small set back to her plans. It wouldn't take long to catch up to this guy anyway, as surprisingly fast as he was. Though she knew it was likely the fear of being chased by an Assassin that made him fast, she didn't want to have any mental distractions like that keeping her from completing her goal. Runaan would be proven wrong when she went through with this.

She could tell what this guy's plan was when he abandoned the halls in favor of going out onto a stone walkway leading into a divided part of the castle. The chase brought him sprinting right past two guards, who seemed to notice the guy before they noticed her. "Hey! You should be back in your quarters! There's a _drag_ -"

The runaway scooted to a halt just behind them and gestured in her direction frantically. "She's trying to get me!"

Rayla pounced into an airborne stance just as the guards rushed at her, perfectly evading the swipes of their swords and landing eight behind them. She confidently twirled herself around in time for her blades to block their swords simultaneously darting forward towards her. Brief flutters of sparks flew as the humans tried alternating forms of attacks with their weapons, only for each attack of theirs to meet a blocking move from her blades. As easy as it was handling them, the last thing the Elven girl wished for was for this little fight to go on long enough for reinforcements to arrive.

Rayla used both of her swords to bat theirs into the air, using the brief disadvantage of theirs to crouch low to the ground and sweep out with a leg. Kicked off of their feet, the guards could only give startled yelps as they were just barely airborne for a few moments, then came clanging back down to earth. Their heavy metal heads banged off the stone flooring below them and had them unconscious in seconds. Barely panting from the light scuffle, The Assassin stood to her full height again and surveyed her quick work.

"Ha! I _knew_ sweeping the leg worked in sword-fighting!"

Rayla's nose scrunched as she turned to the teen she'd been chasing earlier. Not only had not taken the opportunity to run away, but he was grinning in surprise and content as though he'd had an age-old answer proven to his advantage. Momentarily thrown off, she blinked and tilted her head. "You _what_?"

"You swept the leg!" He explained, mimicking her moves from earlier. "Everyone kept saying you don't do that in sword fighting! I was _completely_ right, though."

"Oh." Rayla pursed her lips, looking back to the unconscious guards. "Ah mean, they weren't exactly balanced. Y'just can't sweep anyone of higher training than them."

"...Oh, now that makes more sense."

Silence reigned the air between them as he just nodded in agreement with her, and Rayla just blinked in confusion. Like a chased hare, the guy darted off again to the doors at the opposite end of the stone walkway. The Elf growled in annoyance, quickly giving chase as he speedily raced through the door and traveled all the way up the spiraling staircase in fear. Despite his increased headstart from before, she was slowly gaining the closer they got to the top of the short stairs. At this rate, she guessed there might be a dead-end for him shortly and that's where she'd finally catch him. They entered the end part of a hallway from it's left side, and the teen was racing towards the large double doors on the right side of the hall. Rayla closed the distance as he was forced to slow down to keep from running into the door with full force.

"Lord Viren!" He called desperately as he started to open the doors. "Claudia! Anyo _-agh_!"

He stumbled to the ground when Rayla's flying kick finally hit him square in the back, sending him rolling onto his front. To her immense relief, there was no room in this study room-no one behind the desk, sitting in the various chairs or sifting through the books on the shelves. It was just her, him and rather gigantic painting in the background. No exits or ways to evade. No help from outside forces.

It was just her and him.

Perfect.

"Ah _should_ kill ye for evading me, " She threatened as he back pedaled, pointing a sword in his direction. "But in this current...instance, it's unnecessary. Ya don't _have_ to are only two targets tonight."

Though fearful, his unease was momentarily surpassed by a subtle curiosity. "Wait, _two_? What do you mean? Or who?"

Rayla rolled her eyes at that question, her free hand tightening into a fist. "Who do y'think we'd be after? We're here for the king. And _Ah'm_ also here for his _son_ , Prince Ezran."

The blood in the human's face seemed to run cold from that, flushing to be as pale as her own skin. There was a stretch of admittedly emotional silence before he shook his head slowly. "N-No! You can't. That's not fair. Why would you hurt someone who's done nothing wrong?"

"Ah could ask you the same question!" Rayla responded in anger. " Humans cut down the King of the Dragons and destroyed his only egg, the Dragon Prince! A child that hadn't even hatched! He did nothing wrong, didn't he?!"

The teen hadn't a thing to say in response to that, or at least it seemed that he didn't want to. Satisfied she won the argument, she started to ask where she would find the Royals, only for the human to beat her to speak. "...Well, then, you've found me…I am Prince Ezran."

Rayla's eyes widened. This wasn't what she expected at all. She expected that it would take a longer time for her to locate the prince, or either of the Royals for that matter. She expected an older prince that was at an age old enough to have a kingdom all his own. She never guessed it would be someone her own age with a full life ahead of him, just like her. And she didn't expect him to be this brave-to blatantly state who he was to her after finding out her intentions."

 _Y'have to end him, Rayla._ Her thoughts chimed. _Just do it. Y'have to._

"...Ah...Ah have to do this. Ah'm sorry." She raised her sword into more of a striking position. A slice into the chest would be very quick if done right. "Ah don't want to... but Ah have to."

The Prince swallowed nervously, but his eye remained focused on her own. " _Why_? You know this is wrong."

Rayla's hand started to shake slightly. "An assassin doesn't decide right and wrong, only life and _death_."

"That doesn't mean you can't think for yourself! How does this solve anything?" He asked? "It's just violence for more violence!"

Rayla grimaced. "No! This is justice. Humans attacked us unprovoked."

The Prince raised an eyebrow. "So it's okay for you to do the same thing to us?"

"Aye. Ah...Ah mean…" Now Rayla's thoughts were more conflicted than ever. At first, there had only been the thought of killing him, but now questions flooded her brain intensely. "...Well, no...Look, It's nah the same thing because we're attacking you provoked!"

"Then it's a _cycle_. My Aunt is literally a general of a pretty big army," He responded urgently, and slowly rose to his feet with arms peacefully held up where she could see. Her hand quivered even more than before."You hurt us, someone will get revenge against the elves. Then the Elves will do it to us. It won't end."

Silence reigned the air once again, but this time there wasn't an ounce of awkwardness. Now there weren't any thoughts of killing this young prince. Rayla frowned and wished against it, but her hand slowly lowered her weapon to her side. She frowned down at her own hands and sighed to herself. "...He was right...Ah don't have what it takes."

Though she couldn't see it, the young Prince was rubbing the back of his neck. With a soft sigh through his nostrils, he started to speak again. "Heh. Nice to know it's the same on both sides."

Rayla was briefly perplexed by that statement, but it was brushed aside in favor of more pressing matters. For one, she failed the task of committing regicide and would have to face the other Elves' ridicule when she returned. _If_ she returned. She holstered her weapons and crossed her arms silently. "So ah guess you'll be sending for someone to arrest me or...whatever."

The Prince thought over her suggestion, then shrugged. "I mean, technically...I could just say I didn't see you and you could sneak out of here? Least I can do for you deciding to not...you know, kill me."

Rayla likely would have squinted at him to read his face for any detection of a lie. And then maybe she would have actually taken him up on that strangely generous offer. But any options that resulted from his offer would never be known. Not after a faint noise traveled the length of the hallway to reach them.

" **_Baa-a_ **."

Rayla and The Prince turned to the open doors they'd crossed through a minute ago, gazing down the length of the hallway.

The Black Demon stared back.

A new kind of fear filled her just seeing it there, crouching perfectly still on all fours. It's toe claws were raised into the air, tapping it's sharp tips into the floor of the hall on occasion. The state of it's body reminded her of cats upon spotting something of interest, their bodies locked in mid-stalk as they awaited the next move of their prey. Rayla swallowed deeply as she noticed it's maw soaked in blood and a single bloody goat leg hanging limp from between toothy jaws. Those eyes-those blood-red orbs of evil that usually offered her no feeling but that of hunger-now held a different emotion that nearly blotted out the visible hunger of the beast. It was a fact that only served to make her more afraid in that moment.

The Dragon was angry.

Very angry, that a certain Elf kicked it off the side of a castle.

The Prince's eyes darted to her nervously, not that she could see. " _Call off the dragon._ "

The Black Demon snapped it's jaws shut like the crack of a whip, severing the goat leg in one bite and emitting a baritone growl. Rayla darted forward swiftly, reaching the double doors with a frantic scramble. The Dragon screamed a shriek of promised death as it rushed forward as well, but it was still far out by the time she closed the doors. She was surprised once more by the human when she looked to see him not only place the locking plank into place, but also push the room's desk towards the door as a barricade. She helped him make the work quicker, the both of them pressing the hlvery heavy desk against the doors as hard as they could.

It finally reached them. The Prince flinched at the massive weight thrown against the doors, making the metal hinges groan painfully. Their makeshift blockade held steady, however, much to their surprise. "Uh, Can you maybe call off the dragon too?!"

Rayla's cheeks darkened in indifference to his words. "Call it off?! I'm not controlling it! This thing wants to eat me too!"

"You mean this whole time you guys haven't been controlling it?!" Another slam against the door, then another. "Why does it wanna eat you so _bad_?!"

Rayla sheepishly shrugged and braced herself for another bone-shaking slam against the doors. " Ah may have disturbed it's meal? It's naht like it's ever in a good mood for me t'say _sorry_!"

They both yelped when four long claws stabbed into the door before their very eyes, dragging down with casual strength to produce a sizeable chunk in the wall. Then the banging continued, as though it hadn't quite realised there was now another method of getting in. Still, it would only be a short matter of time before it noticed it's earlier efforts and tried to make a hole big enough in the door to get through. Of all the places and ways to be killed, Rayla hated the thought of dying next to a human and being slaughtered by a spawn of the darkest evils.

" _Callum_!"

Rayla's ears flinched, searching for the source of that whisper. The Prince seemed to freeze too.

" _Psst, Callum!_ "

The Prince stopped pressing his weight against the desk to turn to a large painting nearby. "Shh, go away."

" _But I found something!_ "

Rayla looked to the painting, then back to The Prince and finally back to the painting. "...Are you talking to that painting?"

The Prince chuckled nervously, before yelping when a massive clawed hand reached through the hole in the door and wildly thrashed about to catch one of them."Uh, why would I do that? 'Cause it's NOT A GOOD TIME."

Rayla frowned as she used her sword to bat the hand back through the hole. Why is he acting so stupid now? Is this how humans act in their last moments?

The Answer was revealed by the painting moving aside as though it were an opening door, and a small boy hopping out from a square opening in the wall. This human had somewhat darker skin than the older one, as well as head full of poofy black hair, reddish clothing like the other and an armful of pastries. A weird...frog looking creature crawled out next to him, a yellow and green ball of grump.

"You mean, because you're with a _girl_?" The boy suddenly paused, his adorable eyes flicking from The Prince to Rayla, then to the door that was nearly shattered by something huge on the other side. Rayla sheathed her sword and tried her most non-threatening grin. The boy shrugged and held out a pastry." Uh _Jelly tart_?"

Rayla's peripheral vision alerted her to the large eye of the dragon now occupying the hole and starting straight at her. "Maybe later, Kid. Now get out of here."

The boy frowned at the rejected tart, only to begin eating it himself. "Callum, what's going on? Who's this?"

"Callum? I thought you were Prince Ez...Wait!" Rayla pointed a finger accusingly at what was once her target, a scowl written all over her unhappy face. "You _lied_ to me!"

The Prince-Callum, apparently, narrowed his eyes right back at her. "That's my little brother! Of course I'd lie to say his life!"

Rayla started to say something harsh in return, but after careful consideration, decided not to endorse that remark. "Well, that makes sense." She briefly turned to the big red eye still glaring at them, causing the Elf to shudder at them. "But that won't matter if this guy gets in!"

"Close your eyes!" The boy apparently had an idea, since he raced right up to the door with his pet in tow. "Say hello to my _little_ friend!"

* * *

The Indoraptor's left eye was blinded by a sudden explosion of light.

More in surprise than pain, the obsidian beast flung itself back from the door and held a hand over it's afflicted eye. The fact that it's pained eye was blind to the world for half a minute was enough of a distraction to keep it from renewing it's efforts on the door. But eventually sight returned to him once again, the dinosaur pounced to it's feet in readiness. The greatest meal of his life was just behind those doors, and one more hit would break the only boundary between him and that succulent Rayla. He traveled down the hall a few steps, then turned and sprinted in a bee line for the door on all fours. His speed combined with his weight was the final straw for the battered and bruised door, for it broke apart into splintering pieces and slowed to tumble over the barricade into the room. Rolling to his feet, he opened his jaws to strike at her body…

...which wasn't there.

The Indoraptor's excited expression fell into immense disappointment. This couldn't be! This simply couldn't be possible. Four times now (not that it knew what numbers were), that accursed yet delicious non-human evaded his hungry jaws. For times he longed for the blood from her body on his tongue, only to catch nothing. Anger was there as it usually was, but now there was a more painful emotion to be felt. He shook his head to try and clear the feeling out, then bent his snout low to the ground. His forked tongue lashed at the rough carpet, then at the air to try and find anything.

The scent of her was there, and then It moved here. The beast shuffled over to a strange giant thing of different colors and shapes. He didn't care to inspect it too closely, instead to investigate the one new smell that was here. Something almost too sweet was staining the brick wall next to the painted thing. A reddish jelly substance. In his efforts to get a closer sniff, he nudged the painted thing aside and found that it opened up like a door. And to his delight, there were a plethora of scents in the dark, empty spaces.

Rayla's scent. There was one more chance to make things right.

"This way! The commotion is right down here!"

The Indoraptor snarled, turning towards the doors he'd broken down. It seemed more of those humans in their shiny dressings we're coming, soon to approach and notice him there.

"Christ, look at the doors!"

His claws flexed. It wouldn't take long to handle them, then continue hunting.

"I hope there wasn't anyone in here…"

"Hello? Hell- _AAAUGH_!"


	7. Page 7

"Oof! M' _foot_!"

"Sorry. It's awful dark in here."

"Agreed. Kid, can't ye turn up the brightness on that thing?"

"Bait's got a tummy ache from the jelly tarts. He can't go too bright on a tummy ache."

"Mrawg."

"Hmmph. What kind of weird... _thing_ is that, anyway? Ah've never seen anything blind a dragon before."

"I mean technically, you weren't _looking_ when it happened so…"

"Bait's a _Glowtoad_. He's kinda the coolest."

A noise vibrated the walls, the result of a very far off roar.

"...Right...How far are we from some kind of exit, then? Ah don' doubt that thing won't take long to track us."

"Well, _I_ doubt it. This my personal secret passageway!" A pause. "Who are you exactly? I've never seen an Elf before."

"She's an Assassin."

"Just tell _all_ m'secrets, why don't you?"

"You weren't being secretive before."

"Wait, so you're one of the Assassins my dad told me about?"

"Well...I was supposed to be. Not sure if ye can tell, but I'm kinda bad at my job."

"Which I'm pretty thankful for, since you didn't decide to kill me."

"And me, I hope."

Another roar sounded, now somewhat closer than before. Dust and loose stone buts fell to the floor.

"None of this is gonna matter if we're all wanderin' about with that thing out there."

"It shouldn't be that far ahead. Hmmm…"

"I'm still...confused. I thought Elves could control dragons and stuff?"

"That is so insulting. W'dont control dragons- _nobody_ controls dragons! You'll be lucky if they side with ye on a quest they deem noble. Dragons are their own individual clans, sometimes grouped together in prides or traveling alone. Just m'luck Ah picked some wingless, cranky _loner_."

"Has another Elf angered a dragon and lived to tell the tale?"

"Sure, by way of apology or peace offering."

"Have you tried that?"

"Ye know, that would be a fancy notion if it weren't for the fact that this thing is constantly trying to KILL ME. Ever try apologizing to a rampaging bison?"

"Okay, you made your point."

"Hey guys! We're here. I know because I just walked nose first into the door."

Rayla closed her eyes sharply as the boy opened the door slowly, allowing a swath of dim light to suddenly flood what was once a very dark place. Before her eyes even adjusted to the brighter light, she found herself walking slowly alongside the humans into this new room. When her eyes finally adjusted, she found that she'd walked into the center of a small storage room. Or at least, it had seemed that way at first. There were shelves upon shelves of items, ranging from jars to the body parts of different creatures labeled in casings.

"Cool, right?" Ezran said as he turned to his taller company. "I just found it a while ago."

Rayla walked over to a table in mild curiosity, her brow furrowing as she noticed a collection of Amber Butterflies. Or what was _once_ Amber Butterflies-they now looked cold and lifeless and colorless too. But she was not surprised to see them look so drained of life, but rather slightly miffed at knowing _why_ they were like that. "Ah wouldn't call this all that fascinating. Just looks like th' cave of another dark mage...sucking the life out of innocent beasts for no reason."

Callum shrugged as he noticed a primal stone, picking it up to examine the swirling thunder storm inside. "Or they could be making medicine or something. Dark magic may have it's...questionable side, but it's not _bad_."

"Of course a _human_ would think that." Not wanting to risk going into some sort of argument over an abominable practice, she looked around swiftly. "Anyway, where's th' exit? Ah gotta get topside and fast."

Ezran rushed to a nearby table and lifted a small bag from it. "Aw, but I wanted to show you guys this cool rock I found!"

Rayla slowly approached, but only to dismiss his wants. "Kid, Ah really don't have time-"

"See? It's roundish and glowing, but also alive."

Rayla's heart skipped a beat. Beside her, Callum gasped. The three of them all beheld the 'rock' in silence for a long moment.

Ezran smiled."See? It's pretty cool, isn't it?"

* * *

Soren had to rush into his place before the King's bedroom doors, skidding to a halt between his fellow men and forcing him to look as though he hadn't ran a good half mile just to get here. Not much longer after he'd heard the horns concerning the dragon, he'd had to leave Claudia and her servant to hopefully get somewhere safe so that he could find as much men as he could. When he'd assembled as much of them as possible, he had them to scour as much of the castle as they could to find where it was...hopefully defeat it let alone kill it...and then anticipate an attack by Elves. It made all too much sense that they would send the dragon first, then sneak in when it was finished demolishing their forces. Claudia mentioned that she might look into their father's crafting room for helpful spells against it, but he hoped that she didn't get anywhere near the thing. In any case, Soren went to the King's bedroom as another member in the last line of defense.

Although, by the approaching shape in the hallway, it seemed that his own Father was joining them. Soren stood a little straighter as the older man approached, his scepter gripped in one hand and a basket in the other. The young general raised an eyebrow. "Uh, hey Dad. What's in the basket? A _bigger_ moth? Can it kill dragons?"

"You're supposed to address me as _Lord Viren_ as a general, Soren." Viren reminded him, his eyes falling to the aforementioned basket. "And I have more faith in your troops to stop it, though I will lend my magical services should they fail. In any case, _this_ is something that will protect the king when all our swords have failed."

Soren coughed awkwardly and tried to discreetly gesture to his sides. "Uh, you know they can hear you, right?"

The knight on his left, Sam if he tackled correctly, looked at him. "He knows, sir."

"I am prepared to do anything to protect the king." Viren declared solemnly, placing a hand on Soren's shoulder as he did so. Soren recognized the tired, but still willing look in his father's eyes and stance. His words continued with an emphasis of a certain one: " _Anything...I_ hope you will understand."

Soren hesitated once, then stepped aside to allow the older man to enter the bedroom. As he stepped back into his original position, Soren couldn't shake the odd feeling that settled upon him from those last words.

Though, while he couldn't shake it, he could very well ignore it.

* * *

It was more beautiful than _anything_.

It was more beautiful than it had been told of in stories.

It was more beautiful than what pictures were drawn to describe it.

It was more than what Rayla could have imagined.

It's elliptical shape was lined with an otherworldly white, filling the bag with a bright glow. The inside of the small round shape looked as though someone had taken the stars and placed them inside. Bright dots of all colors swirled about the inside of this glass-like object, mimicking the great stars above in their movements. Clouds of fluctuating colors acted like miniature supernovas beneath a planet like dot, circled by a single ring. An object with the greatest strength of the universe inside this shell. The thing thought to have died with it's maker, the most powerful creature to have roamed Xadia or Earth itself.

Alive.

"The Dragon Prince's Egg, " Rayla breathlessly said.

"It wasn't destroyed?" Callum blinked down at it.

Ezran stared down at again after the revelation of what it truly was, perplexed and surprised all at once. Rayla reached down slowly, her fingers shakily pressing against the smooth exterior of the shell timidly. Warm, a clear sign of life that the prince had said something about not long ago. She reeled her hand back slowly, her eyes never leaving the egg. "Wow, " Ezran gaped.

"Ah can't believe it." The Elf in the room murmured, completely stumped by now. The very mission she and the other Elves had been binded for was based on the death of the egg. With it alive… "This changes _everything_."

"If the egg lives…" Callum suddenly perked up, looking in her direction. " Maybe it could stop the war."

Rayla was stumped once again; she didn't put full consideration into how far this startling discovery would change things. Sure, there was a bit more to the war than just the egg, but it's presence could still do big things. The Dragon Queen would be all too delighted to see her egg alive and well. Rayla's brow furrowed as Ezran touched the egg also, exclaiming about it's warmth to his older brother.

"But how?" Rayla asked no one in particular. "Why was it just _hidden,_ down here? Why wasn't it destroyed?"

"Because my father saved it."

Rayla whipped around in milliseconds, blades already in her hands. At the doorway they'd just entered from was a young woman, perhaps a little older than Rayla and what appeared to be a maiden. The one who'd spoken seemed to enjoy dark clothing, if her black leather outfit had anything to say about it. Her eyes narrowed in the direction of Rayla, and the Elf didn't stop herself from doing the same. The Maiden kept just to the side of the black haired woman, though she seemed more focused on the Princes.

"Claudia?" Callum exclaimed in shock. Apparently there was some relation here. "How did you…?"

"There's a bunch of jelly tart handprints on the way to this door." Claudia explained. After everyone sent their own varying looks in a sheepish Ezran's direction, the maiden girl spoke up. "Callum, Ezran, come to me. She can protect you from the elf."

Rayla sneered at the one named Claudia. "Ya father didn't save anythin'! He stole it!"

Claudia's eyes narrowed more. "That's a lie!"

Callum glanced at the egg, still in his brother's hands. "Then, Claudia, why is it here? In your dad's crafting chambers?"

Even the maiden seemed to give her a questioning look, and Claudia gestured to the egg. "My father took it to protect us, Callum, so the elves and dragons couldn't use it against us!"

"Are you plain _daft_?" Rayla's grip tightened on the blades. " How can we use it? Didja think we were gonna _throw_ it at ya?"

"Don't play dumb with me, Elf!" Claudia responded. " You know that thing is a powerful weapon!"

Rayla raised her arms exasperatedly. "It's a flipping _**EGG**_."

Rather than allow her mistress to continue the argument, the maiden decided to interrupt. "Ezran, Callum don't be afraid! Just walk towards me, "

Claudia raised her hands to eye level, and they began to spark and crackle with purple electricity. Her pupils expanded to fill her entire eyes with black, but they remained ever-hateful towards the Elf. Rayla had to admit that they looked painful, but she didn't back down a centimeter from the intimidating display. "And if she moves even an inch, I'll-"

Everything stopped after that, at the slightest drop of something. Rayla squinted very closely at a differentiation of light on Claudia's shoulder. She likely wouldn't have noticed if she hadn't felt it hit her shoulder, the fabric of her clothes still thin enough to provide feeling. The crackling lightning ceased to exist as the girl's brow furrowed and her hand reached up to the substance. Claudia examined the sticky, clear saliva on her finger with mild disgust, before another drop landed in her hair. Slowly, Claudia looked up towards nothingness in the air.

The Dragon closed its jaws down on her entire upper half.

Rayla didn't move for a few seconds, all she could do was stare in horror and listen. At the sides of her vision, Ezran was gaping at the sight unfolding before him and Callum had gone as white as snow. The sheer abruptness of the dragon appearing startled the maid badly enough to knock herself off her feet, and while she looked more than ready to scream, it seemed as though she couldn't find her breath.

It had been so fast that Claudia hadn't had time to react until now, the air now filled with a loud scream- frightened and muffled from between the jaws. Rayla anticipated the exact moment it would happen. She knew how powerful those jaws were, and she wasn't ready to see those jaws sever the unfortunate girl in half. To see the rubbery, leaking insides of a human, flopping it's way out of the ribcage. To have blood splattered all over her in one swift spray. Perhaps it was divine mercy or just the Dragon not caring about the violently kicking and screaming human halfway to death's door, cutting herself by jerking and thrashing against his teeth. But for whatever reason, the dragon did not bite down any harder than it did, nor did it kill her another way. It _did_ flick it's head to the side sharply, sending Claudia zipping into a wall of wooden shelves and glass jars. Her body slammed awkwardly against the stone surface and wood shelves, then disappeared beneath the shelves and glass pieces in a flurry of loud crashing.

Shrieking death, the beast raised its hand and batted the maiden into the exact same place as her mistress, not even paying attention to her yelps as she landed in broken Dragon then turned to the three remaining, drool dripping from its lips feverishly. Any other time, it would have stalked towards her slowly. But anger and past experience taught it to roar and lunge for her in one sudden move. Callum, still holding the stone in one hand, yanked her frozen body out of its range just in time to avoid its strong jaws and jagged talons. Momentum brought it headfirst into a collection of jars with brightly colored smoke, exploding to surround the beast in thick plumes. Distracted and disoriented, it swiped blindly through the air.

And that was the last she saw, for Callum hurried them all through the exit door.

* * *

"A-Augh!"

Jane flinched, pulling herself out from the small field of glass pieces and trying to embed anymore in her flesh as she went. Her hands shook slightly as he looked down at them; three shards between both of her palms, one in her right bicep and a small cut under her eye. While it was certainly good fortune that her eye wasn't damaged by glass, it did't feel like good fortune to have four pieces still embedded in her. At the sound of roaring, Jane's gaze whipped around to the farthest corner of the room to see that the dragon was thrashing about in a massive cloud of smoke, before it broke free of it's blinding surroundings and rushed towards the exit door. Luckily for the sake of the kidnapped princes, the dragon's body was far too big to get through the stone doorway. It crackled and allowed small pieces to fall, but it's shoulders just wouldn't go through. They were safe.

 _Claudia_.

Jane bit her bottom lip as he removed the glass from her hands and her bicep, staining her dress with generous helpings of blood as she did so. Panic for her mistress overruled the horrendous agony in her torn open skin, forcing her hands into carefully yet quickly parting the blanket of broken wood and glass. The maiden soon managed to unearth the young Dark mage, consciously settled on the ground with only light breaths to show that she was alive. Her left leg, one of the first parts of her to hit the wall, was bent strangely at the knee and the parts of her that the dragon bit were bleeding slowly. Jane released a shaky breath that she hadn't realized she'd been holding. It could have been much worse than this; Lord Viren would have to hear terrible news under other circumstances.

Jane gingerly rested a hand on her shoulder. "Mistress Claudia. Mistress, we have to get out of here." She glanced to where the dragon was. "We have to-"

The Black Dragon had _heard_ her, turning around slowly with a guttural hiss. It stalked towards her slowly, barking in a deep baritone voice and rattling the quills on its back. No amount of warning from Soren or his knights or his troops could have been enough to describe the deadly aura of this creature, or just how many teeth were hidden behind those cruel lips. Jane backpedaled in fright when it drew near, but paused when she noticed it wasn't changing direction to come for her. Instead, it's mighty head bobbed lower to the unmoving body still settled in the debris, sniffling at a potential meal. Jane froze when it pecked and poked at Claudia's twisted leg, earning a pained moan out of her and thusly more interest from the Dragon. The Maiden had to do something to steer it's attention away from her, and fast.

Her frantic sweep of the area brought her to notice a single, intact jar next to her feet. Reluctantly, she snatched it up and ignored the pain springing to the cut parts of her hands. "Hey!" She yelled and threw the jar as hard as she could at the beast's head. Time seemed to slow for her as it sailed through the air, bounced harmlessly off the beast's snout and joined countless other as broken glass on the ground. The good news was that it's attention was on her now.

The bad news was that it's attention was on her now.

Rising up on it's two legs, the dragon's head quills scraped against the ceiling as it towered over her and snarled. Jane stumbled back two steps as the dragon took a methodical step forward, which allowed the maiden ounce again notice something on the ground near her feet. A wooden torch, perhaps knocked into the by beast when it entered the room. Though it was barely anything more than a heavy club with burning embers,(and even if it was well lit, what was fire going to do against a creature that breathes it?) she didn't want to be attacked without trying something-anything to defend herself. So she snatched up the heavy club with weak, quivering hands and took a while swing just as it's head drooped low for a bite. The Dragon leaned back from the light smack, likely more out of surprise than any actual pain. Another try at biting earned a similar swipe from the maid. "Uh, _back_! Stay back!"

Frustrated at the defiant acts of this meager prey item, The Dragon pounced up and slammed down to Jane's right-causing her to whirl in that direction with a yelp. It bounced back into it's original place and she was forced to follow to keep her focus on it entirely. It zipped around her in an effort to catch a bite at her backside, and she was just barely fast enough to face it. Her body nervously shuddered and shook in this strange game of sorts, knowing she was just wrong move away from pain. A look in Claudia's direction revealed the woman had not moved once since being forced into unconsciousness. If help was coming, it would have to come from a mage as skilled as Claudia or a Sorcerer on Viren's level.

The dragon had stopped in her momentary thought process, visibly distracted the ceiling. Or rather, the lone ceiling light stationed above it's head. The Dragon cawed as it noticed the shadows it created by bringing its snout near the fragile flame inside the lantern, then its eyes widened ever so slightly. Though there was no way to explain her suspicions, she couldn't feel that there was something horribly wrong with what the dragon had noticed even if she couldn't figure it out. She did eventually come to the horrifying realization, but by then a grin had come to the dragon's face and a clawed hand reached up to the light.

With a single crush, the entire room was drowned in _darkness_.

She whimpered, trying to make some use of the dim glow coming from the embers of her old torch. But the glowing red veins spiderwebbed over the end of the torch barely let her even see her hand grasping it, let alone anything surrounding her. Her heart hammered even louder when she noticed the deafening silence; the total lack of sound that she'd gotten so much of just moments ago. The beast didn't dare let any sounds of breathing, growling or stalking across the stony floor reach her ears. She moved her torch blindly in one direction, then another in hopes that she was somehow keeping away the dark creature. Her whimpers were only a hair's width away from becoming sobs, from dropping her only 'defense' and hoping the end would be quick.

"Uuuggh…"

Jane perked up at the noise that emanated from the corner of the room, where her Mistress last was. She was awakening! The Maid tried angling her torch baring arm towards Claudia's direction as a signal to her. Try as she might, squinting through the dark was impossible for the maid. "Mistress? Mistress Claudia, I'm-"

 _ **Sqrshh**_.

Time slowed down very quickly, too quickly process all that happened. She hadn't noticed the odd way the torch-or even her hand-disappeared from view. All she could consider in those three brief milliseconds was that strange noise-It was very baffling indeed. What could have made such an odd, harsh sort of mix like the crunching of brittle stone and a wet squish like stepping into mud? And she couldn't look for herself of course, not with the darkness all around her and not with this strange pressure forcing her to drop the torch. Not with the _pain_.

The pain answered her question and does time back up all in the same breath. There was no way to do it full justice in words, but it felt the closest to dozens of thick glass shards severing the muscles of her arm and a very heavy rocking pressing down on her arm so much that it felt wrong. Her bones felt wrong, like they'd been bent too far by the sudden bite and that the glass shards were splintering them. The pressure lifted for just a brief moment before it came down harder than before and snapped her elbow in the opposite direction. The pain was beyond screaming, beyond wailing and struggling.

Her shrieks of agony were rivaled only by the growls the dragon gave in the midst of its chewing, its deliberate severing of her tendons and bones. Jane cut the fingers of her other hand trying to pry the jaws open, trying to scratch at its skin to dissuade it-trying anything to end this unbearable torture. The beast yanked her off her feet with a sharp tug and the momentum twisted her onto her back, causing more agony for her arm. A single heavy foot landed on her stomach, its clawed toe sinking down into the part of her shoulder just inches from her throat. Despite this new additional pain, screaming wasn't a possibility with its foot firmly on her; getting oxygen was an uphill battle and she could actually feel her ribcage bending inward-threatening to snap altogether. Her cap, her dress-nearly every inch of herself was being sprayed with warm blood. Her struggles to lift the foot off of herself were weakening from the lack of air, or perhaps the steadying blood loss. Even as dark as it was, it felt like her vision was getting darker still-making her feel suddenly sleepy and sluggish.

The room brightened.

Green energy lined the four corners of the room, bringing even brighter light than there was before. With a sharp stab of pain, the Dragon's head suddenly snapped up in attentiveness to the change in its surroundings. It swallowed what she presumed to be blood in its mouth and barked at something she couldn't quite see. There was the sound of glass shattering nearing her head, and then the weight of the beast was suddenly off of her in a flash of light. Jane inhaled as much air as she could, groaning when her ribcage protested to the elongated breath. She couldn't see the dragon anywhere, nor could she hear it or feel its presence.

A familiar voice gasped, then grunted in pain. In a few seconds, Mistress Claudia finished limping over and collapsed gently next to her. Her eyes were wide, her hands held over her mouth to stifle her gagging. Claudia's gaze flickered to where the dragon bit her before returning to the Maid's. "J-Jane. Jane, Oh God-Jane." She pressed a hand to her cheek with a worried. "Stay with me- J-just _please_ stay with me! You're gonna b-be okay!"

"M...mis...tress." Jane slurred slowly. Odd-when had she had difficulty with speaking? Of thinking for that matter. Everything around her seemed to be moving slowly, except for the pain. She tried to move her arms, but only the left one responded. The Dragon certainly did damage to her right one. "Can't...c...feel my a...arm, why…?"

Claudia was trying not to look at her arm, and Jane had the slightest bit of confusion over her silence. Suddenly, she realised why.

"J-jane, just don't worry about that right now, I-...Jane? _Jane_! NO!"

Darkness covered Jane's vision once more.

* * *

The three of them finally stopped running, once they reached the door at the very end of the long stone hallway, which appeared to lead up a spiral staircase to the outside world. Callum leaned on his knees as his caught his breath and Ezran stared at nothing in particular as he hugged the bag containing the egg. Rayla leaned against the wall with a shuddering breath, not born out of a tiring run.

They all knew the silence would have to be broken eventually. She swallowed and looked towards her company. "I...I don't suppose that girl you know knows any _dragon-killing_ spells?"

Callum could see that she was at least trying to think on the positive side; that this Claudia chick would live. "It never came up in conversation. Maybe her _dad_ knows something."

Ezran looked up at his brother slowly. "Is C-Claudia gonna be okay?"

Rayla watched the older brother nod almost immediately. "Yeah, sure. Yeah, she's gonna be fine. Her and Miss Jane."

While the Elf girl didn't fancy brushing aside their worries for another, there were important matters to attend to. It was likely night outside, and as soon as the full moon made its ascent into the sky there would be nothing to stop them short of an army. Luckily, there was a certain egg that could stop this whole ordeal. "Listen, Ah need you to give _me_ the egg. Ah have to get it to the roof, right away!"

Ezran and Callum exchanged confused looks with each other, the former hugging the egg even more. "What? Why?"

Rayla grimaced impatiently at the question. " Just _trust_ me. Ah-"

"Right, makes total sense! Since we go way back- Ooh! Like that one time, ten minutes ago, when you chased me through the castle trying to **stab** me?" Callum was clearly a master of sarcasm in this castle, given the utmost deadpan enthusiasm he spoke to her with. "Ha Ha _Haaaaa_. Good times."

Rayla fixed the particularly annoying prince with a glare. "Look, ye might not realize it, but Ah'm trying to help you." She explained, her gaze shifting between both of them. "Any moment now, others will be arriving. Others like me or better."

Callum's deadpan look softened as he glanced outside. " _Assassins_."

"Yes, and they're not likely to have mercy on anyone here...unless I show them the egg. That's what this mission is about. Then the attack can be called off, and we might even be able to drive out the dragon."

Ezran shook his head as she reached for the Egg once more. "No. We'll come with you to the roof."

Rayla's ears lowered in defeat. "Ugh! Fine! But we need to hurry. I don't want anymore... _surprises_."

* * *

The Indoraptor had no concept of the word ridiculous, but he would have used it to describe its dilemma if he did.

It was now five times that he'd been denied an opportunity to have Rayla-a quintet of games that ended with him as the sore loser. He was reminded of the bit of steam he was able to let off when he chewed up the remains of the meek human's ripped off arm, but even that bit of mauling wasn't allowed to last before the other awoke and used strong strange glowing jar to teleport him elsewhere in the giant human den. The Indoraptor was past trying to understand anything happening, instead choosing to accept the unexplainable and try to catch Rayla again. He rose up from the ground slowly, shaking off vertigo he felt from the sudden displacement. Noise drew his attention from the corner of the hallway closest to him and he stood on his hind legs angrily as a large group of those metal clad humans stopped before him.

The Indoraptor growled in rising anger as they pointed their weapons at him like the humans in his time would point their guns. In his anger, he never quite noticed that the yellow stripe in his scales was glowing, feverishly burning all the way up to his jawline. The knights stared in confusion at the sight, backing up ever so slightly. He may have hated the humans with a bloodlust, but he did share one brief moment of confusion with them.

Confusion when he roared at them, and _black fire_ spewed forth to burn his foes alive.


	8. Page 8

**Thanks for nearly 11,000 views! Keep em coming!**

* * *

Viren wasn't one to admit he was nervous about this, but it was the truth. Walking into the room of the King for what could likely be the last time had him feeling jittery by itself, but his motive for coming in was what had him truly nervous. He still managed to carry himself as if he wasn't, walking into the room and immediately catching sight of the King. The man, destined to catching sooner than any would like, was sitting at the foot of his bed next to his casually perched bird. His royal sword was in his hand, and his focus appeared to be on the whetstone he was using to sharpen it. Viren could only see half his face, but it was clear enough that he was becoming very troubled by the coming events. Understandable; Viren himself couldn't imagine leaving behind his child from something like this.

The Royal Sorcerer and Advisor stopped before his majesty, stared and waited. After the arguments they'd had earlier in the day, he was willing to let the King be the first to speak if he wished. When a good span of silence had passed between them, Viren decided to speak."...Harrow."

He didn't stop sharpening his sword. "...Viren."

Viren frowned a little deeper. "I trust you've heard the horns."

"Yes. The Dragon is here." His expression softened and he looked up to Viren. "My children…?"

"Prince Ezran...and Prince Callum, " Viren slowly nodded. "Are far away."

As Harrow nodded to this, he looked around the room with a heavy sigh. Viren found that he was looking at the various portraits set up on the walls of his broom, each one depicting different times. Their collective gazes settled on one portrait in particular, and both of them stared right back through it. "Hmm, " The King shook his head. "I still don't think they got your nose right."

Viren reluctantly inspected the portrait again; he hated looking at how big it looked. "It's quite…disgruntling. But the overall look makes up for it."

Harrow blinked at the portrait of the two young men, both standing tall and brightly in contrast to where they were now. "I insisted you stand next to me for the painting...because I knew you would stand by me through anything."

"And I have."

"Until now, yes."

"I..." Viren tore his eyes away from what was once the past, to begin the talk of the future. "I've given thought to what you said earlier. Concerning your stance on...switching places with another."

Harrow turned to him as well, narrowing his eyes lower. "Oh, you have? Then why have you returned with that abomination?"

Viren shrugged in response to that. It seemed that he still wasn't quite keen about the use of dark magic in this situation. Still, there was a chance to change his thinking."Yes, I've brought the Soulfang. You see, I...have a proposal. Let me explain."

Another sigh. "...Go on."

"Thank you...You are my king but you are also my friend." The Sorcerer began slowly. Seeing Harrow's growing interest in his words helped him to find more to say. "The things we've both been through together in our earlier years, the hardships we've passed. It's forged a bond, I suppose. Right now, I do not come to you as my king... I... think of you as my brother."

"I see. Finally, in my last hour, I see it now." King Harrow nodded as he set down his whetstone, and Viren smiled at his beginning words. "The problem with you is finally clear to me! It's that you believe you are special, better than everyone else, above the laws of this kingdom."

Viren paled a little."N-no. That's not what I was trying to say! Please, listen-"

"Assassins could be coming to murder me as we speak, " King Harrow raised his voice more, standing to his feet and holstering his sword. "A Dragon could very well be coming to burn me alive and you're wasting what precious time I have left!"

Viren didn't want this. This argument was the last thing he wanted, not with his plans still to be explained. "No, Harrow, I-"

"STOP. How about, 'No, Your Highness!' In fact, why don't we try, 'Yes, Your Highness' for a damn change?! Address me the way others address me, because you are no different from them!"

Whether it was the futility and lack of hope for calming him down, or something else. Either way, Viren had finally had enough of his talk. He stood just as tall as the other man, with a glare just as heated. "Oh, are you sure you wouldn't prefer something more pompous for you, like 'Your Royal Highness'? Or-Or 'Your Esteemed Inimitable Stubborness,' perhaps?"

Harrow's hands clenched into fists as his glare darkened and he seemed to stand taller than Viren had ever seen him before. "I have tolerated your arrogance-No, your disrespect for too long, maybe even encouraged it! But if today is my last day as king, you will know your place!"

Viren mirrored his glare in the same manner and responded with icy coldness. "And where exactly is that place?"

"Right here." Harrow said immediately, and raised a finger to point to the floor. "On. Your. **Knees**."

The air grew still and silent, like the forest when a predator made its presence known to the world around it. Viren didn't move for a moment, not willing to break his stance against the stubborn man. A man he once fought death incarnate with, now a person he hated the most. Yet, whether or not Harrow did die, his final rule of imprisoning his Advisor for disobedience would be nearly impossible to break. There was only one way to save himself from that kind of future. With the utmost reluctance, Viren slowly lowered himself onto one knee and seethed in anger. His bird fluttered onto Harrow's shoulder, joining the glare sent down upon his head. "You are a servant of the kingdom of Katolis. Nothing more."

Viren grimaced at those words, striking at his title in the kingdom and his own resolve. Perhaps Harrow was right-this man was not his brother at all. This man was just a King, and he was always lower than him. No.

"You are a servant."

No, Viren thought and breathed in response. No.

* * *

The Indoraptor shut his jaws, while his eyes opened wide at the state of his enemies.

They were still on fire, though the flames and the screaming had lessened greatly-the latter more than the former. Masses of flesh burnt endlessly by melting metal, producing a cooking smell in the air that other humans would find foul. The Indoraptor may have had his eyes locked on the charred corpses, but his wordless thoughts were focused elsewhere. Mind-boggling. This new discovery was mind-boggling, of course- especially for one like him, who knew so little about the nature of fire. He'd only seen fire from an accident in the laboratory, when he was much smaller than now, and the campfire of the bloated goblins. All he knew about fire is that it thrived on unalive things, like sticks and electrical equipment, searing to the touch and violently hungry. Fire wasn't supposed to be spewing forth from his bloody jaws, and it wasn't supposed to be black either. It almost looked as if he'd thrown up a thousand dark shadows, shadows that ate away at the humans even now.

Cautiously, the Indoraptor decided to test exactly how he made the black flames appear-he did something specifically to warrant them. What was it? The Dinosaur tried chortling, then barking to produce something of significance. When those things failed, he attempted a soft cough and reared back when a brief puff of flames fluttered in the air, before slowly dying. His peripheral view directed his attention to his own yellow stripes, glowing faintly in the nightly darkness with a hypnotic illuminescence. When he inhaled a large breath and held it, the stripes grew brighter than before. He exhaled a steady stream of smoke slowly and his stripe became dull again.

His childlike astonishment at what he could do was remarkably short lived. Even with this newfound discovery-this otherworldly strength that would distract any creature for hours-all he could think about was her. He didn't care if his vicious flames killed her before his teeth could, but he needed to hunt her down and he needed to do it now. If he failed another five times, then it would be another five times closer to achieving his goal. Not that he even understood the concept of numbers, or time or such things.

Snarling, he raised his snout and sniffed the air. Above the heavy scent of his smoke, he could catch a multitude of other scents within the surrounding area. One of the many scents he could smell was Rayla, a short distance away outside of the enclosed area he was in. But those similar scents came back to his attention, and he growled slightly at this additional potential problem.

Rayla's...others were here too.

* * *

This wasn't supposed to be happening.

Raina craned her neck as much as she dared from her hiding place with the other elves, just on the banks of the moat surrounding the castle. Though they came in sparse amounts, a small swarm of human soldiers and guards were racing across the stone pathways connecting the castle. Far too many of them at that, obviously spooked into caution and observance by something. While she knew Rayla's mistake would have them prepare for a coming conflict, she didn't expect it to be of this magnitude. They didn't even seem to go in different directions except for one part of the castle in particular. Something had their attention and, as a few talkative soldiers rushed overhead, the reason for all the commotion became very clear.

"The Dragon is here?!" One of her fellow Assassins whispered to their one sole leader. "Why is it here?"

Runaan hissed angrily between his teeth as he scanned over their enemies from below. "As I said before, the dragon would only follow one of our footsteps to the gates of humans."

The other Assassins made vocal signs of either anger or annoyance when they connected the dots. Raina tried not to think too angrily of the young elf regardless of her involvement here-the girl wanted nothing more than to right her wrongs and Raina had been her age not more than ten years ago. Besides, she knew they had to think about the future in such crucial times." Well, what do we do now, Runaan?"

The Leading Elf sighed, but the sudden arrival of this situation didn't stump him for long. He checked to make sure the coast was clear above their heads, then turned to point behind her. "Alright, you four locate the King and give a signal when you have. Raina and I will locate the prince, then join you to handle the king. Should you run into the dragon, avoid it." Raina found herself nodding slower than the other Elves around her, but she couldn't describe why her reluctance existed. She watched as her comrades began to nimbly scale the side of the castle to complete their task, her eyes then dropping to her leader-already giving her the instructions they would follow. "We'll start on the rightward path. I did spot a few guards going in that direction."

Raina agreed silently with his command. Using her bladed staff, she managed to propel herself up halfway on the wall and used her feet to quick thrust herself up the rest of the way. It all took a few short seconds, but to her somewhat troubled thoughts, it felt much longer. As easy as it was to curse the youngest Elf for what her presence had caused, she couldn't help but feel a sense of pity for her. It wasn't very long ago that Raina was also the same age, trying to prove her strength to other Elves and get to the position that she held now. She made mistakes and errors in judgement just as Rayla did now, even if they didn't yield outcomes of this magnitude. The uncertain Elf felt more concerned over Rayla's wellbeing now than over what they would do next. Was Rayla captured by now...or worse? Even if they hadn't spoken as much in the later half of the past month, their year's worth of training had them bonded enough for the older Elf to be worried.

She reached the top of the wall, and flung herself over on the pathway at the same time that her leader did. However, before she could start forward, her eye caught that Runaan didn't move a single step from where he landed. He only straightened up and squinted at the door not far from them, partially opened. She found herself squinting too; someone was exciting, but noticed the two Assassins on the wall. Raina glanced curiously at Runaan, who's squint turned into a glare. "You're here.

I know you are."

To Raina's surprise, mild anger and secret relief, a particular Elf walked out from the doorway and faced them cautiously. Rayla didn't look any worse for wear from when Raina had last seen her. She couldn't see a scratch or wound in her flesh or her suit, though she seemed to have been doing a hefty amount of running recently. It didn't look like she'd been using her blades for anything either, for they were still sheathed and bore no blood.

"Rayla." Raina sighed through her nose. "What have you done?"

Runaan grimaced in disappointment. "Defied me is what she's done."

Rayla seemed remarkably hesitant, even for the situation she'd put herself in. She glanced at their surroundings, likely for signs of humans, and spoke to them urgently. "Runaan, y'need to call off th' mission. Now."

Raina blinked in surprise, while her leader only scoffed. "You've lost your mind!"

"Please, listen to me. Ah've found It!" Rayla cracked a small smile, her eyes switching between the two older Elves occasionally. "Ah've found Th' egg of the Dragon Prince!"

Raina didn't need to look at Runaan to know he was in disbelief-she was no different herself. But even with her certainty that Rayla's words had no grain truth...she couldn't see any possible reason for her to lie about this specific thing at such a random time. She huffed and raised an eyebrow. "That's impossible and you know it. How can you find a destroyed egg?"

Rayla shook her head immediately. "Th' egg wasn't destroyed, it was stolen! Their High Sorcerer was going to use it for dark magic, but the human princes found it, and they're only trying to help!"

"No. Humans are liars! This is clearly a trick and a trap." Runaan shook his head in utter disdain."You're a fool, Rayla!"

"She's not a fool."

The Elve's glares deepened when a young human, somewhere near Rayla's own age, suddenly appeared in the doorway. "What she's telling you is true."

Raina glanced at her leader from a sidelong angle, then back to Rayla and the human. It wouldn't make sense for them to be dragging out a lie this long with no clear way of proving themselves right. And a human, knowing full well that he was a target, wouldn't go through the trouble of revealing himself without a good reason. The growing feelings of uncertainty she felt suddenly doubled and gnawed at her uncomfortably. "Look...Can we at least see the egg, if you're telling the truth?" She slowly spoke to prevent conflict.

The human boy nodded and turned to a smaller one behind him. "Ez, show them."

The younger boy cautiously opened a sack in his hands and revealed the definition of beauty made real and tangible. Raina found herself speechless at the sight some distance away from her, like an entire universe contained within a single oval. She slowly but surely looked towards her leader for his reaction, only to see he was equally stunned into silence. Raina turned back to gape at the egg again, finally finding a word or two. "It's beautiful. I never thought I'd get to see it...And...its completely fine?"

Rayla nodded immediately to her. "Nah' a single crack in th' shell. How can we take vengeance for an act that never happened? Runaan, you have to call this attack off."

Raina agreed with that sentiment, even if she didn't fully trust the humans herself. The situation had changed quickly, and they would have to act quickly in response. There was so much the egg's presence could do for the war, hopefully in favor of Xadia's lands. The top priority now was not to escalate the war by killing a high ranking King, but by escorting the egg home safely. She turned to her leader with a nod. "She's right. I'll send a signal for the others."

Runaan exchanged glances with the both of them, hesitant and uncertain. "...You both know it doesn't work that way. In case you've forgotten, We bound ourselves to this mission. The bonds on our bodies are there as permanent punishment if we don't do this. Either we kill the princes or I lose an arm, you lose a leg and she loses a hand."

Raina grimaced at the thought of that happening, but her face straightened again. "But isn't that worth it, to bring home this egg?"

"No." Runaan responded, this time more assertive than before. "We must finish what we've started."

Raina gave him a startled look. She couldn't believe she was even hearing this kind of talk coming from her leader, who would usually seek the more peaceful route in a conflict. She usually would follow him with blind loyalty, but this problem needed an open mind to see it's true importance. Her thoughts over this whole situation were quickly flipping around, her eyes glancing from her leader to her fellow Elf. What would she have to do?

"Runaan, There has to be another way!" Rayla pleaded urgently. "This is a miracle, a chance for peace after all this fighting!"

"Just because you found the egg?! The Dragon King is still dead because of their kind! There must be justice for their actions." Runaan responded coldly, revealing his weaponry in preparation. "Now, give me the egg."

That was perhaps the final straw with her judgement, the decision that her leader was wrongly making. Raina broke off from his side, stepping in front of him with her staff at the ready. "You can't be serious, Runaan! I don't like them any more than you, but getting the egg home is more important than killing these humans!"

Her leader seemed briefly surprised by her, before his glare returned. "Stand aside, Raina."

"Maybe she messed this mission up for us, but maybe that's because it wasn't meant to go through anyway!" She explained tensely. Inside, she was very much quaking at the thought of insubordination on her part. "Rayla's right. And we need to get out of here before the egg falls back into the wrong hands."

"Stand. Aside."

"No."

Behind her, she could hear Rayla speaking with the human princes, then two pairs of footsteps running off. Then there was a presence beside her and a little ways behind her, one that was obviously Rayla. Raina glanced to see a thankful look thrown her way, and Raina ended up giving the tiniest shrug in response. Their former leader glared at both of them. "The princes will not get far! They will die tonight!"

"Not this night!" Raina retorted.

The clouds in the night sky parted almost dramatically, revealing the milky white and grey glow of the moon in their peripheral vision-shimmering down on the collection if Elves beneath it. It's mere presence brought about a physical change in the Elves, their natural skin color fading away into translucent darkness and their facial markings as well as their horns achieving a light bioluminescence. Newfound strength from the aura of the moon energized them greatly.

Runaan lowered into a battle stance. "Don't do this. I will kill you."

Rayla swallowed. "Yeah, Probably."

As if the tension wasn't already high enough, another player entered the field in a...graceful fashion.

Glass shattered in the tower behind Runaan, followed by the dark form of a large beast falling out of the window, tumbling on the side of the tower and then landing on all fours. Raina immediately recognized the dangerous eyes and teeth of the famous black dragon, settled above wickedly sharply claws and a muscular wingless body. Runaan turned to it sharply-reluctantly aligning himself with his fellow Elves in facing a much greater threat. But the Black Dragon didn't even acknowledge the stares of Raina or Runaan, choosing to narrow it's red gaze at only one among their trio. His jaws continuously oozed with thick foul smoke, barely muffling his furious growling as he rose to an intimidating height on his hind legs without breaking eye contact.

Raina gave a curious glance to Rayla. "...He really hates you."

Rayla shuddered. "You have _no_ idea."

* * *

After the guards passed them by, Callum urged his younger brother onwards. Admittedly, sneaking his way around the castle and finally reaching the outer courtyard was not what he expected to be doing this night. Still, he didn't need to risk the egg ending back in the hands of the kingdom again-used for whatever Lord Viren had intended to do with it previously. As much as he hated making people worry about them by leaving the castle grounds and into a world he's barely known...it would be necessary. Callum still felt that he needed to say things, to talk more with one specific person that helped in raising Callum when there was no one else.

They reached a cart of heavy, yet concealing hay, where he practically shoved Ezran inside of it. "Ez, You need to stay here, hidden. Keep the egg safe."

Bait wriggled and croaked uncomfortably with all the tiny bits of hay poking him in his sides, but Ezran seemed more concerned with his brother. "Uh, where are you going?"

Callum shrugged as he checked their surroundings for signs of guards. "I'm just gonna...go talk to the king before we go. So he doesn't worry about us."

Ezran rolled his eyes. "Callum, why don't you just call him 'Dad', like a normal person?"

The older of the two released a deep exhale, then shrugged. "Because he's the king...And I'm his stepson."

Ezran frowned and tilted his head. "I think he would want you to call him Dad. If you wanted to."

"...I don't know about that." Any other time, he was sure that his mind would start diving off into how he viewed himself against the likes of Ezran, of Viren, or others who made their bed within the castle walls. But time was running out, and Callum would have to shelve his thoughts for another time. " In any case, I'll be right back."

Ezran pouted and sighed as he watched Callum leave, sneaking off in the direction of their dad and the loud, draconic roaring.


	9. Page 9

**Hey! Another update at long last! In case any of you are wondering why they take so long, we'll that's life! You want to write stuff, then college says nope write Essays, then work says have more hours and Writer's block says blegh. Nothing I can do about it. :-/**

 **But in any case, enjoy the next page!**

* * *

The Indroraptor hadn't expected it to be easy to catch moving targets, but this was a little ridiculous.

The attack was supposed to be flawless. He was expecting his surprise appearance to make them easy prey, but it was quite the opposite. The three nonhumans were nimbly leaping to and fro above and beneath his enormous husk, in various moves that made him dizzy just looking at It while trying to cut into his flesh with their weak little weapons. While they had landed many a flow on him, the return offense he gave was not very effective. He snarled and snapped at them when they seemed close enough, but they were always able to leap far out of his reach. Rayla was the most elusive, of course; she was far more agile, flexible and quick than the others were when it came to dodging his claws and teeth repeatedly. She and one other female easily avoided the dinosaur's confused swipes and struck viciously at the other nonhuman-a male. The three of them moved like elegant swans in the calm of a pond, making sparks fly as their weapons clashed with each other. The poor Indoraptor turned this way and that, feeling like an idiot chasing his own tail while his bipedal prey danced all around him as though he wasn't there. As aforementioned, the whole situation felt very ridiculous to him...but more importantly frustrating. His recent failures, coupled with this skirmish had him more than a little angry.

If that wasn't enough, they were also making those noises with each other about who knows what. When the Indoraptor missed a swipe at the male, he spoke. "You're better than this, Rayla!"

"No, not really!" The Indoraptor attempted to dive on top of Rayla, only for her to dodge and deliver an ineffective kick to his snout. "You've had about 20 years more training, and I'm trying to fight a dragon at the same time!"

The Male, Runaan, easily dodged his tail swiping for his legs. " Not your fighting skills! I mean your character!"

"You saw the egg for yourself! There's no need for vengeance tonight! There's no need for this stupid dragon! And There's no need for us to fight!"

Alright, that does it.

He was never aware of the insult to his person of course, but he was angry enough over the constant chatter throughout the fight-almost making the Indoraptor seem as though he wasn't enough of a threat to be taken seriously by his acrobatic adversaries. Gums bared in growling fury, the Dinosaur thrashed in random directions without a hint as to his next move; claws zipping in any direction he wanted them to go. While the nonhumans were forced into moving faster to avoid his talons, The Black Beast still couldn't seem to land a hit. Well, if his claws and teeth weren't capable of the job, then he had one other ability that might do the job. Furiously, he inhaled a heavy breath to prepare his fire…

...only for the male to interrupt by throwing his weight against his side. While it didn't hurt in the slightest, the male's body force was just enough to make the Indoraptor lose its balance and topple onto its side. His head swiveled up in surprise as the Non-Rayla female suddenly lept into the sky with her weapon overhead, perhaps aiming to bring it down upon his eye or some other softer part of his being. He pushed himself onto his back with an ear-splitting screech and lifted his right foot. She was seconds too late to maneuver herself out of the way and ended up knocking the wind out of her lungs by landing stomach first on the sole of his foot. The Indoraptor, not wanting her to recover, kicked his right leg as hard as he could. His powerful leg muscles launched the surprised Non-human not only beyond the wall's borders but somewhere into the treeline beyond the moat.

" Raina !" The Indoraptor's head swiveled around to face Rayla, who was angrily facing him and readying her swords. "Why you big-augh!"

By that point, Runaan had taken advantage of her distraction by delivering a kick to her side that had her sprawling. The Dinosaur barked in outrage at the nonhuman; if anyone was going to be doing anything violent to her, it was going to be him and him alone! He inhaled another heavy breath and exhaled a stream of fire in the direction of the male. While it caught him off guard, Runaan moved out of the way too fast for the flames to catch him. The Indoraptor cut off his fire at noticing all the smoke he'd produced; eyes attempting to squint through the thick plumes for any sign of his foe. There! He thought he noticed a shape at the edge of the wall there! The beast bounded to the area as fast as he could, the wind from his speed clearing the smoke within a few seconds.

Nothing? The Indoraptor bent his head low to sniff at the edge of the roof, then turned to try and over through the smoke again. Frustrated with the lack of visual, he drew himself to full height on his hind legs and looked around. His low peripheral spotted movement, but he was far too late to act on it.

Runaan delivered a full-body kick to the raptor's abdomen and sent it over the roof, screeching in outrage the whole time.

Rayla was slowly getting back on her feet by the time Runaan kicked the dragon off the wall.

Rayla held her blades ready and panted to regain her breath, but she winced at the noises the creature made on the way down. When the older Elf slowly approached her from the depths of the smoke, she grimaced. "Ya know...he's probably gonna hate ye for that, "

Runaan glared at her and prepared for another round. "We will be done long before he recovers and gets back up here."

Rayla prepared herself too, winded and fairly certain that this wall would be her final resting place. "Wow, " She said, trying to sound confident again. "So sure of yerself."

A tense second of silence passed by. Runaan started forward with a step, then paused as his eyes widened. He straightened up and glanced back to the main buildings of the castle ground, before looking to the young Elf. "Wait... You wanted all that. You want to stall me!"

Rayla shrugged innocently, a coy smile on her face. "Huh. Interesting theory, there! Care to discuss it?"

"Rest assured, " Runaan seethed as he turned and started in the opposite direction. " Your punishment will come. One way...or another ."

And with that worrisome statement, he was bounding off in the direction of the taller buildings. Rayla watched him go with a frown, reluctantly sheathing her blades. Punishment. She'd heard stories of the kinds of punishment a traitor to Xadia could receive; none were pleasant to experience. Part of her briefly flicked to the thoughts Runaan likely had; was all this worth it? Were the human princes worth her betraying her own kind? Was the egg worth the possibility? Was any of it worth being the same as-

No. This was different than what they did. She was only a traitor like them for the time being. This time, she would be saving the egg. There wouldn't be any punishment and her family name would be cleared when everyone saw what she'd done. She just had to carry on with her new mission-her responsibility.

It didn't take long for Rayla to get back down to the courtyard of the castle, even after having to sneak past a few panicking guardsmen. The courtyard was abandoned as well, with reinforcements having called any of the guards there up to the higher parts of the castle. And in the midst of the empty brick stone space was a lone cart full of hay.

A glowing cart of hay. Okay.

Rayla approached the hay stack and parted it until she found exactly what she'd been expecting to. The grumpy face of the weird...frog creature stared back at her with an unhappy frown on it's yellow and blue face. She smirked as she noticed it was glowing brightly, seated upon the small kid's head. " This one isn't so good at hidin'."

Ezran raised his head a bit more, spitting out strands of hay and plucking more of them out of his hair. "You have no idea."

Rayla was about to get the cart moving, but she paused in concern. "Hey, your brother is alive in there, right? He's being awful quiet."

"Oh, he's not in here."

"... what ."

"Yep." Ezran angled his head and pointed at the highest part of the castle grounds, the king's chamber. "I bet he's up there right about now, talking to our dad!"

Rayla groaned.

* * *

The Indoraptor groaned.

He was really starting to hate these Nonhumans almost as much as regular humans. This was the second time one of their kind had successfully kicked him off the wall and had him meet an abrupt end to his fall. The beast slowly rolled to his feet and groaned again from the pain in his head; if the wall had been any higher than it was now, he would have broken something necessary to his ongoing hunt. Even now, the side of his body that broke his fall ached a little, making him hiss. But his resolve to do the one thing he knew how to do very well was unending-he would get back up and vent his frustration on more humans or nonhumans when he encountered them in their little packs. And maybe, if he got any luck tonight, he would finally repay Rayla for all the trouble she'd caused him. He glanced up at the sheer height of the wall and inhaled a long breath to sigh tiredly.

He tensed.

That scent…

The Indoraptor turned, blinking into the darkness of the forest.

No. That was impossible. The fall must have had his brain rattled harder than he thought; mixing up scenes known only to the past. There was no way that...that thing was here. The Indoraptor shrugged off the faint scent he'd clearly imagined and got to work on climbing back up the side of the wall. He never looked back.

If he had, he would have noticed the familiar yellow eyes glaring at him all the way up.

* * *

Callum didn't want to say he was worried he wouldn't make it, but he knew it deep down anyway. As he made his way up to the different levels of the castle, charging up several flights of stairways, the sounds of carnage and chaos echoed through the hall. He'd heard a group of knights racing in the opposite direction from somewhere in the castle, and minutes later he would either hear their screams or that of the dragon. If any more of the Elves that Rayla was fighting off were inside the castle, there weren't any sounds or sights to show it. Maybe that meant Callum still had time-just a little bit of time before they came and did their job. He was only a few paces away from the King's bedroom; a quick sprint down the hall and he would be there.

The Prince burst in the space of the connecting hallway, where Soren and his assembly guards were stationed. Callum immediately slowed down before his sword-fighting mentor, who smirked slightly. "Woah, slow down there step prince! I know there's a bit of a situation going on, but no need to lose your head!"

Callum wheezed for breath, glancing over Soren's shoulder at the closed doors of the bedroom. "I...I have t-to see the k...my dad…!"

"Uh, the king is kinda indisposed right now." Soren shrugged nonchalantly. "It happens when you have Assassins and Dragons after you, you know-"

" Please !"

Callum urgently waited, watched as Soren's expression faltered and died. If the young general was really going to let Callum in, it wouldn't have mattered. The doors opened anyway, gently and slowly. Callum's spirits lifted; Harrow must have heard him through the door. He opened his mouth to speak.

And Viren blinked, closing the door behind him sharply.

He didn't show any care for Callum's expression falling if he ever noticed. His eyes flicked to Soren, then back to him. "Child, you should not be here! This is now the most dangerous part of the cast-"

"I want to see my dad!" Callum interrupted. "I have to talk to him!"

Viren sneered down at him. Callum honestly couldn't remember a time when he didn't, anyway. "The King's last instructions were that none are to disturb him in his chambers. And besides, what could you have to say that would be so important?"

The Prince glared back at him. "To tell him what I know about you. About what you took and told everyone was destroyed a long time ago!"

For a moment, Viren's eyes widened slightly in surprise at his words. Callum couldn't help the small feeling of pride from this tiny feat, having surprised and stumped Viren for once. But the man's stone-cold expression returned tenfold and he huffed through his nostrils. "Adorable. You think he doesn't know already ."

Now Callum was the surprised one. "What…?"

Viren briefly turned his gaze to his son. "General, take him to the dungeons."

Soren stared at his father in quiet confusion. "Uh, but Dad...He's one of the princ-"

" General . Take him to the dungeons. Now ."

Even the guards were watching in silence, waiting to see what would cut the dramatic tension in the air. Once again Soren was interrupted; there would be no way of telling whether he would have done as his superior instructed. For all the torches lining the hall's interior were blown into nothing, taking their light out of existence. As moonlight poured in from the nearby window and balcony, the chilling breeze that had silenced the torches stayed and lowered the temperature quickly. It wasn't difficult to feel fear from that alone, but more dread would soon fill the room in the form of them .

The Assassins .

Callum gasped; they were nearly transparent in the darkness. Like ghouls up from the depths of oblivion, they emerged from the dark hall the teen had entered through not long ago. There were only five of them, but each of them were easily worth three guards by their looks alone. Each one held a threatening weapon tightly in their hands, glinting in the moonlight like silver. Their eyes stared without blinking at the assembly of humans between them and their goal. The male that Callum saw not too long ago led the barrage of glares, sending it directly in the teen's direction. They all lowered into battle stances, and Callum could see the guards readying the weapons in his peripheral vision. But something else interrupted everyone.

A scream.

At the other end of the hall, to the human's far and the Elve's far left, everyone turned to look. A guard, flung from behind the corner of the hallway, landed in a bloody mess on the floor with his boots still out of view. The moonlight from the window there perfectly illuminated the scratches and tears in his armor-in his flesh. He started to pull himself to his knees but was pulled back down by something roughly tugging on his foot. The guard screamed again as he was slowly but surely dragged back behind the corner, scratching helplessly at the carpet floor. Then a wet crunch cut off his shrieking, followed by another crunch. Then silence.

" **Baa-a**."

The Humans and Elves both flinched as the Dragon rounded the corner slowly, rising to all four when it's body was entirely visible. Its quills we're raised like the hind fur of a cat, brushing against the ceiling with it's enormous height. Globs of blood, flesh and drool dripped from it's fangs and hit the floor. It's claws twitched impatiently. It's red eyes scanned over every last soul there and rested firmly on Callum.

" **sk** ** _AAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIUH_! ****!** "

The world was a blur after that. All three parties ended up colliding with each in a chaotic three way battle for supremacy. The humans stationed themselves before the door, trying to use their numbers to drive back the opposing enemies. The Elves danced this way and that, both to fight their way into the bedroom and to fight against the most dangerous variable there. The Dragon blindly thrashed and clawed at both groups, barely held at bay by hits around it's eyes or sensitive snout. Viren and Soren were busy trying to fight off the Elves, the latter of which had an arrow stuck in his shoulder. The constant noise of metal on metal, metal on flesh, claws on metal and the roars all forced Callum to huddle to the ground and protect his head. He looked helplessly about him, to the bedroom doors. Harrow had to be hearing all of this; where was he?!

"DAD!" Callum gritted his teeth when the Dragon nearly busted the eardrums of everyone in the area. " DAD!"

" CALLUM! "

The Prince whipped his gaze to the balcony near him. Rayla had the glass doors open, wincing under the assault of noise from within. She frantically waved her arms and gestured to the balcony itself. Reluctantly, Callum glanced at the chaos around him and sprinted to the balcony with her. He could see that she had a rope line attached from the railing to the back of the hay cart, where he could just barely make out Ezran's head peering up at them.

Rayla handed him one of her blades. "Do as I do! Use the handle part!"

"But, " Callum glanced back at the ongoing battle. The Elves were pushing in closer to the doors. "But my dad!"

"There's...There's nothing we can do!" Rayla explained sympathetically. A roar made her flinch, then a look had her gasping. "Go! Go! Go! He spotted us!"

* * *

The Indoraptor grinned, momentarily forgetting the fight happening beneath him. There she was, just within running distance! But he had to be quick.

The Dinosaur whirled around, whipping his tail at lightning speed to clear the chaotic path before him. Elves and Humans alike were thrown aside in a great jumble of bodies, and the Indoraptor quickly rushed through the cleared path to his prey at the other end of the hall. She and that human were about to try and escape by leaving the balcony, but he would be faster. Only seconds separated his current position from the glass doorway. Well, that and the other Non-human.

The Indoraptor barked in outrage and surprise when the male non-human's body knocked him off balance, making him stumble against the wall. This was the same nuisance that kicked him off the side earlier! Nearly foaming at the mouth, the giant raptor raised a hand and slapped the male's body through the glass doorway. Right into the now-empty balcony. They had escaped him!

Before the Indoraptor could even think to move for the balcony, a trio of human guards were in front of him, jabbing with their useless weapons and trying to force him back. More Distractions. The Black Beast swiped with his tail once again, and in doing so came face to face with another human. But this one was...different.

For one, this one wasn't wearing any armor, just normal human clothing for this kind of world. Something about the look of his face's fur, the tall stance that he held and his expression set him off. This human's expression differs from all the others he'd ever seen in his whole life. He didn't look afraid of The Indoraptor at all, as if he weren't the fearsome beast he was designed to be. This made the Dinosaurian Demon very angry; this human only thought he wasn't afraid of him. The raptor would make him afraid. He would make him burn .

" _Smrots fo enaZ_!"

The Indoraptor didn't care what he was saying. The animal rose to his full height, the stripes of his body glowing in the dark as he inhaled a big breath.

" _Thgil ruoy em eviG_!"

Agony ripped through his chest.

The human sent forth lightning from his center, striking him dead in the torso with electric pain, unlike anything he'd ever felt. It should have been impossible to do this; lightning came from storms, not man. But it was all very real, from the pain to the things he saw through squinted eyes. As the Indoraptor fell onto his back from the continuous blow, he saw that the human's once normal eyes we're now twin voids of inky blackness that held no emotion. The Indoraptor would likely feel unsettled by those eyes if he had anything more on his mind other than the pain.

He thought that being impaled was agony, but this dwarfed that. This human was mimicking the same pain that the scientists of his world inflicted with their electric prods, but magnified to at least a hundred prods. It was like the arcs of lightning were frying every pain center in his nervous system, purposely bringing him the most pain he could ever possibly imagine. The Dinosaur thrashed on the ground with a roar that mixed pain and fury together. There was nothing he could do to block the assault or end it, as the pain slowly but surely increased. Only a few seconds later did the man cease his lightning attack, sneering down at The as smoke rose from his black scales. The Beast didn't move an inch, save for twitching in painful spasms and gasping for air.

Behind the man, more of the metal-clad humans approached. The nonhumans had lost the little fight, despite achieving their goal of getting inside that room. Most of them were captured, with one clearly dead on the floor. A young human timidly approached the man's side and glanced at him. "Wow. You...actually stopped a dragon."

One of the metal-clad humans eyed the Indoraptor warily. "Lord Viren, should we kill it?"

"Your weapons will do nothing to it." This...Viren studied the Dinosaur in curiosity. "But bring me chains to hold it. I may find some uses for its body parts-"

The Indoraptor shot up in an instant, breathing a line of fire between them. With the humans suddenly distracted by the barrier of black fire in front of them, he bolted for the open balcony as fast as his injured body would allow. The Indoraptor usually fought prey that had no means of being stronger than him, able to actually kill him. It only made sense to retreat against such a confusing weapon, rather than try to fight and risk death. The Black Beast pounced over the railing and suffered the price of misjudging the height of his location by falling another great height. His body bounced on tough gravel, rolled twice before his legs and arms worked again and he galloped his way out of the castle grounds to get to the forest.

* * *

Runaan rolled to a halt against the railing, ending the flight the Dragon's claws had sent him on.

It took a great deal of strength just to move after that, forcing himself to his knees and failing to notice one of his bonds had broken off. Three large gashes were drawn across his torso, not deep enough to be fatal but deep enough to produce pain and constant blood flow. He hissed in pain as he brought his eyes to the courtyard of the castle, where a lone cart was making a speedy getaway through the gates. Traitor . Runaan moved his hand to one of the pouches of his vest, peeling out a slightly torn portion of paper and setting it down on the ground. Then he pressed three fingers to the center of the paper and closed his eyes tightly.

He spoke.

Words magically wrote themselves in dark red, almost the same color as the blood that dripped onto the paper from his open wounds. By the time he was finished, he carefully pulled the bow from his shoulder and one of the arrows stationed next to it, trying the paper around the arrow in preparation. A massive shape pounced over his head as he readied the arrow to fire; the dragon was making his escape as well. He pulled back the string of the bow and aimed for the moon itself, his hands steady despite the pain racking every part of his body. His arrow flew as soon as the dragon disappeared into the blackest night, and Runaan's purpose was finished. The Elf let the bow slip from his hands, thinking about those he'd leave behind and waiting for the inevitable.

And it came.

The blade of a sharp sword, gently resting against the side of his neck with threatening intent. Runaan turned to see the face of the general standing over him, glaring down at his wounded enemy-clearly angry over the arrow given to his shoulder earlier. Runaan didn't care; he nodded to the sword. "Well? Make it quick."

The young General raised his sword to make a swift cut. "My _pleasure_ ."

But he wasn't allowed to bring his sword down, not before his superior stopped him with his very presence on the balcony. The older man approached with his guards flanking him, a sneering gaze settled on Runaan. His eyes were still black from his use of dark magic, bleeding blackness into his veins. "No, General. We're going to get those wounds looked at."

Runaan glared up at the man as he raised his scepter.

"...and then he's going to be a very useful prisoner."


	10. Chapter Three: Peace & Claws

_**Chapter Three: Peace & Claws** _

* * *

_One Day Later… _

They were in the forest outskirts of the Kingdom, the three of them.

The day had begun with a sunny disposition and faded out into gloom with the arrival of grey clouds. It felt like only a few minutes ago that they'd left the castle grounds and begun to travel the uncharted path of the forest floor with only Rayla's knowledge to be certain that they were even going in the right direction of Xadia. The Elf found that their travel so far had been quiet and somewhat reserved, more so than she was comfortable with even if her company we're humans. Still, it was easy to understand that the events in the past day weren't exactly the kind that would put people in a talkative mood. The Princes had to rely on the words of an Assassin, one who they'd only formed a tenuous alliance with, for some hope that their father had even survived the night.

It didn't help that one of her bonds had fallen off in the night, a secret indicator of the king's fate.

If those factors weren't enough reason for her to be as silent as her allies, there was the other bond to consider. It wasn't extremely tight yet, just barely allowing room for her wrist. Yet, she knew what would happen within the passage of the coming days. She knew the bond would tighten more and more, like a constricting python. And then one day, it would simply cut through the bone and flesh altogether. Not unless…

No. There was no other option for her. Rayla wouldn't even consider killing anyone like Ezran. Adorable, somewhat innocent Ezran with his strange glowing frog thing. She couldn't bring herself to kill grown men as it was, so a kid was definitely out of the question.

A clap of thunder sounded from somewhere in the distance; it was particularly loud at all, but it was just loud enough to pull her attention away from her own worry. The sky was darkening with the presence of more rain clouds. There would be another half hour perhaps before the first droplets made landfall. She turned to see that the human princes were noticing this too, gazes turned upward to the dark heavens in slight friction. The three of them locked eyes with each other for a brief second.

"Well...I think we should stop and wait out the storm, " Callum suggested, resting a hand on his younger brother's shoulder. It was difficult to tell for sure, but it seemed as though Ezran leaned into the touch slightly.

"Hope it doesn't extend itself into th' night. " She shrugged without a hint of opposition to Callum's words. "We should look for a spot that'll stay dry."

"What about under that huge tree?"

Ezran pointed to the distant left of himself, somewhere in between a grove of trees. Rayla stalked over to the area for a better look at what it was he was referring to. Her visual searching led her to notice a familiar tree species literally standing out amongst the more human bred types in this massive forest. The _Gynoth_ tree, a great line of towering giants that could reach up to ninety feet high and have a radius of about forty feet. They were named Gynoth Trees in Xadia because of their tendency to house Gynoth bats. But since they didn't like the warmer conditions of the human lands, she doubted there would be any huge bats to worry over. And the tree branches, swarming with thick leaves, would be more than enough to keep them dry.

Rayla nodded to the small kid. "Tha'll do."

* * *

A lone Xa'i Boar traveled the forest floor idly. The Beast's portly form managed to hold itself up with ease on four spindly looking hooves, which carried it across the grassy earth one step at a time. It was the size of the average American grizzly bear, yet its diet was that of a herbivorous nature-in fact, it's diet had long since been satiated a half-hour ago by a luncheon of Xa'i truffles and beets. Now that its tubby belly was full of much-needed nutrients, the beast was only looking for a good place to nap out the coming storm. It marched along a well-known path between the towering trees that grew all over the land and maneuvered it's cartoonishly massive tusks in various ways to keep them from being tangled in any low branches. All the while, it kept its eye out for any predators that were still looking for their luncheon. This far out into the forest, there were almost no creatures big enough to be a threat to it. Ironically, the boar was now cautiously crossing the 'front yard' of the only predator capable of swiftly killing it.

And thankfully, he was still in enough agony to not even consider going for the boar.

The Indoraptor lay in his small cave, settled on his right side as he just breathed and thought. He still could not think with actual words or even on the level any other dinosaur could have at that moment, but it didn't stop him from recognizing the new type of pain he was in. Ever since his attack on the humans was swiftly ended by the strange ability of the bearded man, dubbed Viren by his subordinates, The Indoraptor felt _dreadful_. The initial few hours after his retreat were nearly the worst of his life; the heightened fall from the castle and the electric strike made every pain receptor in his nervous system throb in agony. He barely made it back to his cave before his body betrayed him and he flopped out onto the ground, barely breathing and barely existing. His muscles felt fried. His brain was on fire. His bones felt bruised from the constant falls he'd taken from the castle. The pain was only at a threshold by now, just barely any better than the torture he was in previously. His eyes were even redder than before, having spilled a fair amount of tears during his time in immense pain. Still, it was not the pain that forced his tears, nor was it the frustration of not being able to catch Rayla. Even he himself was not certain.

The Beast just felt... _alone_ . He felt as though he were only some strange, awkward _alien_ in a world that had an even **worse** reaction to him than the ones of his old world did. He was designed to be a killer and it was only within his genetic code to kill, and his insatiable bloodlust led him on a long and difficult path of confusion and pain. For once in his life, he wished he could go back to the cold, biting darkness of his steel cage where he could be cramped up against the bars, -at least there he could be familiar with his surroundings. This place was a nightmare he could not wake up from. The scariest part was that he had no idea where his efforts would lead him. His ever-growing confusion with the world around him only made him cling to the things that didn't confuse him-to kill, to eat and survive until the next day.

Time passed easily and quickly. The Indoraptor flinched involuntarily at a crack of thunder over his head, then again when the first of quadrillions of tiny raindrops began their attack on the earth below. The air from the forest, once too hot and muggy for the Indoraptor's liking, slowly transitioned into a cooler state thanks to the surging winds and the icy rain. The drop in temperature felt like heaven to his cooked scales and flesh; cooling them down as wind swam in and out of the cave. His quills shuddered and twitched the more he relaxed, managing to roll over onto his belly. His jaw lay against the cold stone floor to support his head, giving his neck well deserved rest. His red eyes gazed into the surrounding forest without purpose or thought. The Dinosaurian monster just lay there, staring idly.

There was no way he'd fallen asleep or dozed, at least not literally. But an hour later, his thoughtless meditation broke and he sighed through his nostrils stressfully. By then, it was raining so hard that a normal human eye would have immense trouble peering through the curtains of falling water. And after discovering that his eyesight wasn't much more favorable in these conditions, he opted to use a much stronger sense that enhanced genetic engineering had allowed him. The Indoraptor took in a deep heavy breath and exhaled, before repeating the process when he was done. Maybe hunting for a snack would remove the beast from his _malaise_. If he could just catch the scent of something among the smell of fresh rainwater…

He caught wind of something all-too-familiar.

He _snarled_.

* * *

The fire was small but helpful to the trio.

Like a miniature pyramid of flames, it stood in a triangular manner atop a throne of small twigs and leaves. The Bright flames cast odd shadows behind them as the wind made the fire wiggle and squirm in place. The heat of the fire seemed to encircle the entire tree trunk, giving them all protection from the raging elements from beyond the borders of the branches. Border was a strong word; some of the branches were so spaced out above their heads that waterfalls of rain cascaded from those gaps to the grassy earth they were sitting on. Besides the moisture of droplets from spattering, the trio remained mostly dry and warm.

Which was more than what could be said for their conversation so far?

Rayla wasn't the most social Elf of her village, but even she wasn't against a little talking here and there. She gazed across the crest of the fire at the human princes, once more assessing and studying them. Ezran was cross-legged, his weird grumpy pet resting idly on the side of his knee, comfortably positioned to fix Rayla with a constant glare. Though the changes of the past day had been a lot to take in, he seemed to be the most optimistic-looking of them. It was a greater imitation of his brother, who only seemed to be optimistic because any other mood would be emotionally crippling. Still, the worry in his face was much less visible, and with any luck, it would disappear altogether in a few days. He briefly glanced into his sack and then unveiled a sort of booklet-and a pen as well, inspecting them.

Rayla tilted her head. "You a _poet_?"

Callum looked up, his confused look dying out quickly in favor of understanding. "Uh, no. I was just making sure my sketch pad wasn't wet or anything. I draw stuff, "

Ezran perked up. "Yeah. He draws _Claudia_ a _lot_ , "

Callum turned just the slightest shade of pink. "A statement which is _not_ true, I might add. I draw a lot of different people and things."

"Well, Artists are cool either way. " Rayla's ear twitched. Was that thunder making the cracking sound? "Y'ever do... _ceramic_ stuff?"

Callum shook his head slowly. "I _kinda_ suck at it, strangely enough. It's tricky getting the balance right, like pressing in too hard just makes the whole thing cave in."

"And pressing in too _light_ , " Rayla added. "Just doesn't make a difference in th' shape."

"Yeah."

The rain eagerly filled the brief silence afterward, before the Elven Assassin made a slight snorting sound. "So uh...who taught ya that...sweep th' leg thing?"

Callum went rigid. "Well, uh-actually, I just kinda came up with it."

"...Came up with et?"

"Yeah. But everyone says it's not really a thing in sword fighting, anyway."

Ezran grinned up at him. "Because it's _not_."

"You are just _quite_ the critic today, aren't you?" Callum mused. "And yeah, I know it's not, but it's an unexpected move, you know?"

Rayla shrugged. "Eh, you've got a good idea going at least. Maybe jus' sweep th' leg higher."

"That'll cut off someone's leg!"

"I...guess they never had one to _stand_ on?"

To Rayla's genuine surprise, the human brothers laughed a little at the admittedly morbid joke. The Elf wasn't used to any of her jokes not being taken seriously misunderstood by others, but it was a strangely comfortable sense of unfamiliarity. Eventually, their collective snickers dissolved back into the rainy silence of the ongoing night, but now it was a quiet that she was fine with-no longer awkward and need if talking.

However, a little talking was in order when she noticed Ezran gazing in her direction. At her quizzical expression, the youngest prince tilted his head. "The rain is so so weird. It's like, not falling the way it was _earlier_."

Rayla glanced behind herself. "Well, tha's just th' leaves and branches blocking things." She would have said more, but she considered the words of the boy a little more. She hadn't felt the splatter of the rain droplets directly behind her, but they had changed direction to her head. The young elf didn't think too hard over this odd phenomenon, but her angled seating position allowed her to notice another oddity in their surroundings. The fire made her shadow stretch into the distance before like a very long plank...but now it was blocked. Or rather mixed with another, much larger shadow.

Rayla ducked by letting herself fall completely flat on her back.

The Black Dragon's claws missed her upper torso by inches, and instead found deep purchase in the dark wood of the tree trunk. The collective startled screams of the three of them were drowned out by the shrieking roar of the draconic nightmare. Rayla was barely able to roll away from it's snapping jaws with all the reverberating ringing going on in her sensitive ears. She was hauled to her feet by Callum and Ezran, the former of which yelling something about running to her.

She chanced a look back as they bolted as fast as their legs would allow them. The Dragon was struggling with the tree's stronghold on its claws, and the natural curvature they had wasn't being helpful in the slightest. Still, it wouldn't be long before it ripped its talons free of a temporary hold and ran them down. It would never stop coming for them. For Rayla.

She grimaced at the thought, but it was her best option. As they began to cross their way through a small field of tangled bushes, she veered off in a leftward direction. It only took milliseconds for her company to notice. "Rayla, _where_ are you going?!"

She turned to Callum and Ezran, briefly pausing to let one of the beast's roars fade out. "This dragon is after _me_! And right now, you two are carrying th' most important cargo! I'll lose him somewhere out there and find you guys later!"

The Princes shared grim looks. "And if that thing eats you?!"

Rayla resisted the urge to panic at the notion; leave it to a human to think pessimistically. "Then keep on till you reach Xadia!"

If there was anything else to be said, the dragon's entrance denied everyone a chance to speak. He crashed ungracefully through the tree line and hissed in the direction of the princes. Rayla waved her arms and shouted over the booming bellow of thunder. "Here, ya witless worm! Y' want me, don't you?!"

The Obsidian Oppressor locked eyes with her, completely forgetting the humans when it's true goal became more boisterous and loud. She cleared the field of thorns as it pounced in her direction, sprinting across the uneven ground to stay ahead of the beast's gait. In the rain blurred distance, she could see something. Something that could be very helpful if she planned things right.

Rayla raced ahead.

* * *

The Indoraptor was trying once again. His body throbbed with pain, but it throbbed more with the thought of vengeance. The stubborn dinosaur shoved away from his reluctance in his chase, especially after she broke into a sprint and darted through a tangled grove of vines and thorns. While they held no danger to his tough scales, they were strong enough to slow him down considerably as his rampage tangled them around his limbs and neck. Rayla was gaining a good chunk of distance thanks to his brief struggles, and his need for vengeance cultivated in another stream of fire. The flames ate away the vines at their roots in the branches and gave way to his far superior strength, allowing the dinosaur to stumble out in open space once again and resume the chase.

It was luck that he escaped when he did, for his prey had just finished retreating into the cavernous space of a old log and disappeared from view. Leaping upon it with all his weight proved it was tougher than it looked, keeping the girl inside from being crushed by his feet. He snarled quietly and circled the log as thunder boomed over head, illuminating the world briefly. A cut in the wood had him instantly slashing out, sinking his claws into the tough bark and his teeth for good measure. He shook the log wildly as he stood on his hind legs, hearing it creak while Rayla grunted from within. Accidentally, the Indoraptor gave one particularly rough flick with his torso and sent the log flying several feet away over the crest of a few bushes. He wasted no time by leaping over the hedge and landing before the demolished log.

But where was Rayla?

A flicker of movement in the distant left made him turn towards a rocky gorge with a great depth, where his sharp eyesight honed in on a particular fleeing Non-human. Barking, the beast charged into the deep slash in the earth without hesitation, kicking up waves of collected rainwater as he did so. It was rocky on both sides of him, like a canyon of boulders and stones and pebbles, stacked on top of each other to gain elevation several feet above his head. He slowed when he found no sign of his prey down in the water with him; no way she could run fast enough to be at the other end of the ravine and no way she'd snuck past him either. He hissed at the thought of having lost her again, but a surge of relief worked through his veins at seeing her silhouette nearly to the top of one of the ravine's sides. Her scrambling was slow as she had to move over every stone, big or small-while the rain made her grip slippery. The Indoraptor smiled; he could follow her up with better ease and be upon her when she tired.

Admittedly, his pounce upward gave him little foothold on the rocks, and he was clawing off the very thing he needed to close the distance with Rayla. The strongest wind gusts sent pebbles into his face and eyes, wishing to throw his body off balance. Still, his insane insistence led him to only try harder, leaping his way when his foothold seemed strongest. He was only ten feet away from her now-as soon as he was sure the rocks could hold, he would make one final leap. His right foot slipped a little on loose gravel, but he was swift to get a better grip.

He frowned when he looked back up to see Rayla staring right-back at him, one of her feet positioned on a stone as large as his palm. Before he could do anything to stop her once his mind quickly realised her intention, she kicked with all her might and the rock came loose. It wasn't the rock colliding with his snout that horrified him, but it was how loosening that one rock ended up shifting everything out of place underneath him. He shreiked as he lost his footing almost immediately, slamming jaw first into the failing embankment and then again as gravity yanked him backwards.

The Indoraptor crashed into the shallow river with a giant splash, and a shower of rocks fell upon him too.

* * *

Rayla felt prideful.

She also felt sick.

Her plan worked out as she intended-luring the dragon to the rocky area and then trapping him here too. The dumb thing hadn't seen it until it was too late and his wingless body was cast down to the pit of the ravine. The wind bit at her ears and whipped her soaking hair about as she stood several feet above the trapped beast, his body weighed down by a large boulder over his back and one one his arm. Scream and thrash about as wildly as he might, he was effectively trapped there. He turned his head as much as his strained back would allow and roared at the Elf in spiteful anger.

Rayla forced a glare to her features. "Serves ya right, "

A sound silenced them both-louder than anything the dragon could hope to make. From the far end of the ravine, where the beast was facing, a boisterous wash of water flowed without end into the deep gorge. The Flash Flood began to fill up the low space beneath her, increasing the depth of the water by inches. Little by little, the water rose up the beast's body without lifting the rocks off his body. In fact, it made his struggles and efforts even harder than before.

Rayla shifted uncomfortably from place on solid ground; the roars of anger down below were now cries of terror. Something felt terribly wrong about this, about leaving it to drown in a place like this-some muddy ravine in the middle of nowhere. She could save him now; it wasn't too late.

 _No. Look at all that wa'er down there! You know how you feel about wa'er. And besides, This is his fault he's stuck here_ . She thought to herself, balling her fists tightly. _He's been trying to kill me ever since he's first laid eyes on me! He'd kill me now if Ah were stuck in this position. Ah have a very important egg to get to Xadia._

Rayla hesiated upon hearing another roar, but she slowly forced herself to walk away.

* * *

Fear chilled the Indoraptor's blood far more than the rising water was.

No matter how different he was the likes of other animals, other extinct creatures from a bygone era, he had the one instinct present in all creatures- he knew that death was coming for him. He was already feeling claustrophobic with the rock pinning him down in the ground, but now he was dealing with the constant rise of water as well. He knew well and good how bad water was if he were to be deprived of Oxygen. When he was a much smaller version of himself, he had been submitted to tests of endurance and one of those tests included survival in a water environment. He was forced to learn to swim in a tank, but his first tests had always ended up with him feebly kicking as he sank to the bottom. He even drowned once, nearly died if weren't for the hands of his oppressors forcing himself to vomit water. It wasn't a stretch ro say he'd wanted to die then if it meant getting away from those humans.

But not now, not like this-weeks of freedom brought to a halt. His last emotion would be regret-regret that he'd ever made the choices he had that got him here. He regretted his insane bloodthirst for that scrawny non-human and even the other humans. The Indoraptor regretted not being stronger, especially as the water forced him to hold his head high for the last breaths he would ever take. He almost wished his death had been different- being impaled on the skull would at least be quicker than this suffocation...this dread. He knew he had one more minute before the water would rise over his snout and end him. He would have to take a deep breath when the time was-

 _Rayla_ crashed into the water, then resurfaced seconds later.

The Indoraptor whimpered again-surely, she was coming to finish her work. After all this time of not killing, and now she was wading towards him with blades unsheathed. Wait. Blades? How did she plan to kill him? Her blades were useless against his scales; she knew this! Now she was diving underwater, for what reason? Was she trying to cut off his hand? The Indoraptor became quiet as he tried to study her through the dark waters, to see what she was attempting to do. He barked when she burst up from underwater, and he noticed the rocky weight on his hand was gone now.

"Okay!" She panted to catch her breath, climbing out onto the rock on his back. "Ah'm gonna try to get the rock off yur back! But ya have t' help me!"

He cawed and craned his owl-gened neck to see her positioned herself underneath a part of the rock on his back. She jumped up once and slammed her shoulder into the rock, for some odd reason. It budged slightly but didn't move. Why and What was Rayla even doing? Was this some odd mating ritual, like birds did? The Indoraptor couldn't say she was his type. Or vice versa.

"Help me! Come on! Push!"

In times of confusion, the Indoraptor often resorted to one action that worked most of the time in a given situation-Imitation. He blinked as Rayla gave one more hard jumping push and then he jumped up too once the rock budged enough. Now it moved higher and...oh.

Oh.

The Indoraptor barked in agreement with her as she jumped again, him following suit. On their third unified leap, the rock stayed off of him just long enough to allow the black dinosaur to get out from under it. Rayla apparently had to dodge too, jumping into the water as it slammed into the spot she was previously in.

It worked! Rayla still couldn't believe that she'd jumped in to save this murderous beast, or that didn't try to kill her as it's last act, but she had done it either way. She saved the dragon and herself all in one go.

But any celebration was cut short when she surfaced and noticed the Indoraptor towering over her.

She couldn't resist gulping, her eyes wide as she started up at the beast belly-deep in the water. It was difficult to tell what it was thinking as it blinked down at her slowly, but given their relationship, she had to conclude that maybe he was shaping up to kill her for her services. As morbid as that sounded, she wasn't angry...she knew what she was getting into when she jumped back in to help.

The least she could was fix everything before she died.

"Hey...um…" She swallowed again, trembling and tearing up a little. While it was raining to cover it up, she closed her eyes anyway."...A-A'm...Ah'm sorry. I'm sorry for disturbing your kill...a-and for kicking ye off the side of the castle…"

* * *

"...and fer everything else, Ah may have...d-done to you."

The Indoraptor tilted his head as Rayla closed her eyes and held up a trembling hand, going silent. He scrunched up his noise in confusion with her words, her noises. But for once in his life, he could understand something. He could understand, after a life without words, one's emotions by being in proximity with them. And his animalistic senses allowed him to sense sorrow. He wasn't sure how to respond to that.

He could just eat her now, but it felt...wrong to think that, for some reason. Not just because every time he tried it brought him pain and just now almost killed him, but for something else he couldn't name. The beast trailed his gaze down to her hand, and his eyes widened as he looked over the four fingers she had…

Four fingers.

He held up his own hand like an awestruck child and placed the palm against her own. Even though his hand dwarfed hers by a lot, he could only see how perfectly similar they were by their hands alone. Her tiny fingers pointed up into his big fingers, just four digits like his own.

Just like him.

* * *

Rayla opened her eyes.

What was he doing?

The Dragon had placed his hand against hers silently, comparing their limbs and digits in a sense of deep fascination. Though confused, Rayla found herself admiring the talons against her for a moment as well. It was almost poetic, how well their fingers seemed to line up.

She looked at him, and he at her. There were questions she wanted to ask the beast, to know what was he thinking by this action. Was this an _acceptance_ of her apology and aid? Perhaps it was!

Thunder rumbled, and the dragon slowly pulled away. With a brief glance at her, he nimbly scaled the rocky wall and disappeared over it's view.

Rayla sat in the water and blinked.


End file.
